dbosso - Slashdot User

Super-Earths Discovered Orbiting Nearby, Sun-Like Star 242

Posted by Soulskill on Monday December 14, 2009 @05:52PM from the i-for-one dept.

likuidkewl writes "Two super-earths, 5 and 7.5 times the size of our home, were found to be orbiting 61 Virginis a mere 28 light years away. 'These detections indicate that low-mass planets are quite common around nearby stars. The discovery of potentially habitable nearby worlds may be just a few years away,' said Steven Vogt, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at UCSC. Among hundreds of our nearest stellar neighbors, 61 Vir stands out as being the most nearly similar to the Sun in terms of age, mass, and other essential properties."

Comment Stranded (Score 2, Interesting) 837

by dbosso on Monday April 27, 2009 @11:09AM (#27730317) Attached to: Handmade vs. Commercially Produced Ethernet Cables

You really want to use stranded wire for patch cables. Solid will end up cracking with the repeated bending that most patches are subjected to. I've made patches by hand with stranded and found it much harder to work with than the solid most people are used to.

It's definitely not worth my time unless it's an emergency with no alternative (i.e. poor planning).

-db

How Nvidia Wants To Bring 3D Glasses Back 341

Posted by timothy on Wednesday September 17, 2008 @12:07PM from the so-stylish dept.

notthatwillsmith writes "For the last ten years, we've heard the promise of 3D shutter glasses, which when combined with the proper video card drivers and a good display, can trick your brain into thinking that your 2D monitor is creating 3D images. Unfortunately the glasses never really took off, partly because there were rendering problems with many popular 3D games but mostly because monitors didn't support high enough refresh rates to display games without giving people crushing headaches. Nvidia thinks they've solved both problems--the software works much better, and there are a surprising number of supported 120Hz-capable TVs and monitors that ameliorate the headache factor. Maximum PC has a hands-on with Nvidia's new tech, plus details about Nvidia's planned hardware solution."

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