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Submission + - String Theory Test Proposed

Submitted by Alchemist253
Alchemist253 writes: Theoreticians at a trio of American universities have recently proposed a (non-trivial) experimental test of string theory, often called the "theory of everything." Importantly, it is possible that this test could be carried out in the not-too-distant future when CERN's latest powerful tool, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) comes online. From the article, "If the test does not find what the theory predicts about W boson scattering, it would be evidence that one of string theory's key mathematical assumptions is violated. In other words, string theory — as articulated in its current form — would be proven impossible."
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Financial Analyst: Second Life is a Pyramid Scheme

Submitted by
Petey_Alchemist
Petey_Alchemist writes: "Silicon Valley gossip rag Valleywag is carrying a story about Second Life being a new spin on the old pyramid scheme.

The article, which consists mostly of selections from the report of financial consultant Randolph Harrison, suggests that not only are most people deceived about the amount of money they can make in Second Life, but also about how easily they can withdraw it.

From the report:

"Like the paid promotion infomercials that run on CNBC, sadly SecondLife is a giant magnet for the desperate, uninformed, easily victimized. Its promises of wealth readily ensnare those who can least afford to lose their money or lives to such scam in exactly the same way that real estate investor seminars convince divorcees with low FICO scores to buy houses sight unseen with no money down.

Even some corporations have dedicated marketing budgets to creating a presence in SecondLife. While few will shed a tear for the frivolousness of these companies' spending, such adds a false legitimacy to SecondLife. Interestingly, no legitimate, real world corporation has earned net profit from SecondLife activities.

That's because there are but a very tiny handful that profit off of the SecondLife economy. A handful of casino owners, large scale virtual land flippers, and brothel owners are responsible for nearly all of the real money extracted from the game. And they continue to attract new recruits to the bottom of the pyramid.""
Spam

Submission + - MySpace Sues 20+ Spam Networks for Over $500 mil

Submitted by
Harry Maugans
Harry Maugans writes: "MySpace is launching a flurry of lawsuits against over 20 advertising and spam networks, seeking between $20 million and $75 million each. The largest is against CPA Empire for a staggering $75 million. The news of MySpace launching lawsuits towards all these ad networks comes in the heels of an official announcement that MySpace is seeking damages from the infamous spammer Scott Richter (source).

From the article: "However this time, by targeting all sized ad networks, from small to massive, MySpace is clearly trying to send a message through the industry that they're tired of the abuse of their network... quite possibly the most heavily spammed website on the entire internet."

Most of the lawsuits are from bulletin spam, and are being prosecuted in California where the anti-spam legislation has steeper penalties."
Announcements

Submission + - 'Heartbeat' in Earth's climate

Submitted by
On Purpose
On Purpose writes: "Researchers identify a 'heartbeat' in Earth's climate
A few years ago, an international team of researchers went to the middle of the Pacific Ocean and drilled down five kilometers below sea level in an effort to uncover secrets about the earth's climate history. They exceeded their expectations and have published their findings in the Dec. 22 edition of the journal Science.
The researchers' drilling produced pristine samples of marine microfossils, otherwise known as foraminifera. Analysis of the carbonate shells of these microfossils, which are between 23 million to 34 million years-old, has revealed that the Earth's climate and the formation and recession of glaciation events in the Earth's history have corresponded with variations in the earth's natural orbital patterns and carbon cycles.
The researchers were particularly interested in these microfossils because they came from the Oligocene epoch, a time in Earth's history known for falling temperatures.
"The continuity and length of the data series we gathered and analyzed allowed for unprecedented insights into the complex interactions between external climate forcing, the global carbon cycle and ice sheet oscillations," said Dr. Jens Herrle, co-author of the paper and a micropaleontology professor at the University of Alberta.
The authors also show how simple models of the global carbon cycle, coupled to orbital controls of global temperature and biological activity, are able to reproduce the important changes observed after the world entered an "ice-house" state about 34 million years ago.
In the early half of the 20th century, Serbian physicist Milutin Milankovitch first proposed that cyclical variations in the Earth-Sun geometry can alter the Earth's climate and these changes can be discovered in the Earth's geological archives, which is exactly what this research team, consisting of members from the United Kingdom, the U.S. and Canada, has done.
"This research is not only concerned with the climate many millions-of-years-ago. Researching and understanding 'extreme' climate events from the geological past allows us to better tune climate models to understand present and future events, and the response to major perturbations of Earth's climate and the global carbon cycle, Herrle added.

Article"

Feed Military Builds Robotic Insects (wired.com)

From feed by wiredfeed
Defense scientists in several countries are developing tiny flying robots that can hit the enemy with itsy-bitsy explosives. Critics worry that terrorists will adopt the nasty tech. By David Hambling.


Handhelds

Submission + - Nokia developing diamond-like gadget casing

Submitted by space_pingu
space_pingu writes: In the future, all gadgets could be coated with tough, diamond-like material. A patent from Nokia — featured in the latest patent round-up from New Scientist — describes a way of infusing plastic cases with a material, structurally similar to diamond, made from coal. Not only is it more scratch and grime-resistant, but it's also cheap and biodegradable. Apparently it also shines like a metal. Nice.
Handhelds

Submission + - iPhone to Use XScale Processor

Submitted by Tony Dennis
Tony Dennis writes: While there is much uncertainty surrounding the new iPhone, another piece of the puzzle has been solved: the iPhone will use the XScale processor. Dario Bucci, Intel's CEO of the Italian operations, stated in an interview with Il Sole 24 Ore, a local paper, Apple has turned to Marvell [Italian] to power their revolutionary cell phone. With this being the case, did Intel give up on the XScale architecture a little too quickly?
Supercomputing

Submission + - The Personal Supercomputer - Yes You Can Buy One

Submitted by
funkymonkey99
funkymonkey99 writes: "http://technofart.com/index.php/2007/01/21/the-per sonal-supercomputer-its-here-yes-you-can-buy-one/
Having somehow found myself at the Top 500 Supercomputers website, I see an ad on the left for a 'personal supercomputer' and immediately think "you have got to be kidding me, no they did not"-out of sheer morbid curiosity, I click. Yes, they did. 8 AMD Opteron HE processors, 16GB of RAM, 4 SATA hard drives...Good lord..."

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