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Comment Re:Could have fooled me (Score 2) 221

by evenmoreconfused (#47781123) Attached to: Canada Tops List of Most Science-Literate Countries

According to TFA, there are several different sections. The statement about depending on science was from a portion designed to clarify prevailing attitudes towards science in general. It was separate from the part evaluating scientific literacy.

[The report] contains the results of a new public survey that assesses Canadians’ science attitudes, engagement, and knowledge. The report reviews data on Canadians’ science skills and the current peer-reviewed literature on science culture. It also features an inventory and analysis of the organizations and programs that support and promote science culture in Canada, particularly among youth.

However, it turns out the survey was commissioned by a number of Canadian agencies. It was performed internationally, but a Canadian report saying Canada is number one in science is at best somewhat suspect.

Submission + - Americans More Distracted Behind The Wheel Than Europeans (npr.org)

Submitted by Taco Cowboy
Taco Cowboy writes: Either the Europeans have lied, or the Americans were bragging

U.S. drivers are much more likely than Europeans to drive while distracted, federal health officials report Thursday

Nearly 69 percent of Americans who drive say that they talked on their cell phones while driving at least once in the previous month, according to a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

That's a lot higher than what was reported by Europeans in another survey. Only 21 percent of British drivers reported chatting on their cell phones while behind the wheel, for example. In Germany and France it was about 40 percent

The same goes for reading or sending texts or emails. About a third of U.S. drivers said they did that. And that's about double what it was in Spain and Great Britain

Health officials say that's a big problem because driving while distracted causes fatal car accidents. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, 3,331 Americans were killed in crashes involving a distracted driver in 2011, compared to 3,267 in 2010

"The cell phone can be a fatal distraction for those who use it while they drive," CDC Director Thomas Frieden said in a statement. "Driving and dialing or texting don't mix. If you are driving, pull over to safe place and stop before you use your phone"

Submission + - Dual Carbon Battery Charges 20 Times Faster Than Lithium-Ion

Submitted by Luminary Crush
Luminary Crush writes: A Japanese company, Power Japan Plus, has announced plans to put into mass production a carbon-carbon ("dual carbon") battery later this year. Developed jointly with Kyushu University, the new battery has high energy density, is very safe and reliable, can sustain 3000 charge cycles, and is environmentally sustainable. If dual carbon batteries were installed in a Nissan Leaf the car could be completely charged in 12 minutes.

Comment Re:Ask Slashdot? (Score 2) 187

You want someone two days into a simple desktop linux system to get a consumer appliance?

Surely there should be some simple point-and-click app he can install from the desktop that will prevent basic misbehaviours. The very act of asking here shows that he does indeed have pride enough to want not to be a menace.

Submission + - Six Ways America Is Worse Than A Third-World Country

Submitted by mrspoonsi
mrspoonsi writes: Business Insider writes "Although the U.S. is one of the richest societies in history, it still lags behind other developed nations in many important indicators: 1. Criminal Justice. America imprisons 716 people per 100,000 citizens (of any age). That's significantly worse than Russia (484 prisoners per 100,000 citizens), China (121) and Iran (284). The only country that incarcerates a higher percentage of its population than we do is North Korea. 2. Gun Violence. The U.S. leads the developed world in firearm-related murders, and the difference isn't a slight gap – more like a chasm. According to United Nations data, the U.S. has 20 times more murders than the developed world average. Our murder rate also dwarfs many developing nations, like Iraq, which has a murder rate less than half ours. 3. Healthcare. A study last year found that in many American counties, especially in the deep South, life expectancy is lower than in Algeria, Nicaragua or Bangladesh. The U.S. is the only developed country that does not guarantee health care to its citizens. 4. Education. The U.S. is among only three nations in the world that does not guarantee paid maternal leave (the other two are Papua New Guinea and Swaziland). This means many poor American mothers must choose between raising their children and keeping their jobs. 5. Inequality. By almost every measure, the U.S. tops out OECD countries in terms of income inequality, largely because America has the stingiest welfare state of any developed country. This inequality has deep and profound effects on American society. 6. Infrastructure. The United States infrastructure is slowly crumbling apart and is in desperate need for repair. One study estimates that our infrastructure system needs a $3.6 trillion investment over the next six years.

Submission + - Stephen Hawking claims "there are no black holes" (nature.com)

Submitted by ananyo
ananyo writes: Stephen Hawking has proposed a new solution to the black-hole firewall paradox, which has been vexing physicists for almost two years, after its discovery by theoretical physicists Joe Polchinski at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara, California, and colleagues. The paradox troubles physicists because if the firewall scenario is correct, Einstein’s general theory of relativity is flouted. But the classical theory black hole cannot be reconciled to the quantum mechanical prediction that energy and information can escape from a black hole.
Now Hawking has proposed a tantalizingly simple solution to the paradox which allows both quantum mechanics and general relativity to remain intact--black holes simply do not have an event horizon to catch fire. The key to his claim is that quantum effects around the black hole cause spacetime to fluctuate too wildly for a sharp boundary surface to exist. As Hawking writes in his paper, "The absence of event horizons mean that there are no black holes — in the sense of regimes from which light can't escape to infinity."

Submission + - Makerbot announces new 3D printers at CES

Submitted by Lockdev
Lockdev writes: In an unsurprising move, Makerbot announced a new line of 3D printers at the CES show in Las Vegas today. The new lineup includes a "big bot" machine that has a massive 12"x12"x18" build volume and a "mini" machine with a build volume of roughly 4"x4"x5". It appears Makerbot has been listening to their user community by upgrading many of the problematic components of their original Replicator/2/2x lineup. These upgrades include a glass build plate, a smart extruder, and a built-in camera to monitor your prints remotely.

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