Follow Slashdot blog updates by subscribing to our blog RSS feed

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Space

Nearby Star Forecast To Skirt Solar System 135

Posted by Soulskill from the we're-doomed dept.
PipianJ writes "A recent preprint posted on arXiv by Vadim Bobylev presents some startling new numbers about a future close pass of one of our stellar neighbors. Based on studies of the Hipparcos catalog, Bobylev suggests that the nearby orange dwarf Gliese 710 has an 86% chance of skirting the outer bounds of the Solar System and the hypothesized Oort Cloud in the next 1.5 million years. As the Oort Cloud is thought to be the source of many long-period comets, the gravitational effects of Gliese's passing could send a shower of comets into the inner Solar System, threatening Earth. This news about Gliese 710 isn't exactly new, but it's one of the first times the probability of this near-miss has been quantified."

Comment Re:Mountains out of molehills, as per usual .... (Score 1) 79

by RazzleDazzle (#30862064) Attached to: 80% of<nobr> <wbr></nobr>.gov Web Sites Miss DNSSEC Deadline

Or better yet sneak into OWA and impersonate you to have others make changes elsewhere (disable a firewall or allow traffic) or even send critical data allowing $badguy to access more pertinent resources and information. What company do you work for again?

Security is a process

Comment Re:The diodes can stay, but the processor's gotta (Score 1) 232

by RazzleDazzle (#30676010) Attached to: Blu-ray Capacity Increase Via Firmware

I would guess not but since I dont have a PSP nor any interest in playing PS3 games I guess I am fine with not getting a PS3. Regular DVD quality video is fine enough for me if I am going to be watching it on a tiny portable player. I dont mind ripping blu ray to my laptop and watching it there or yes, just bring the disk, I have heard of and even seen these things you can place disks into so they dont get damaged and scratched. I think they are called "cases" but if they are unknown to you maybe they are not available where you live.
Open Source

Linux Kernel 2.6.32 Released 195

Posted by CmdrTaco from the download-compile-reboot-repeat dept.
diegocg writes "Linus Torvalds has officially released the version 2.6.32 of the Linux kernel. New features include virtualization memory de-duplication, a rewrite of the writeback code faster and more scalable, many important Btrfs improvements and speedups, ATI R600/R700 3D and KMS support and other graphic improvements, a CFQ low latency mode, tracing improvements including a 'perf timechart' tool that tries to be a better bootchart, soft limits in the memory controller, support for the S+Core architecture, support for Intel Moorestown and its new firmware interface, run-time power management support, and many other improvements and new drivers. See the full changelog for more details."

Comment Think of the children! (Score 1) 579

by RazzleDazzle (#29812789) Attached to: Nationwide Shortage In Supply of Swine Flu Vaccine

Swine Flu WILL kill your children - its a disaster!
Nevermind the auto accidents, cancer, and homicide

THE TOP THREE CAUSES OF DEATH BY AGE GROUP

0-1 years:

        * Developmental and genetic conditions that were present at birth
        * Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
        * All conditions associated with prematurity and low birth weight

1-4 years:

        * Accidents
        * Developmental and genetic conditions that were present at birth
        * Cancer

5-14 years:

        * Accidents
        * Cancer
        * Homicide

Slashdot Top Deals

And it should be the law: If you use the word `paradigm' without knowing what the dictionary says it means, you go to jail. No exceptions. -- David Jones

Close