rrkap - Slashdot User

Submission + - Robot lawnmower kills man (engadget.com)

Submitted by

navyjeff

on Thursday May 31, 2007 @04:07PM

navyjeff writes: "Earlier today, a 45-year-old Danish municipal worker was killed by a remote-controlled robotic lawnmower. A Czech company named Spider is the maker of the mower. Is it time to implement the three laws?"

Submission + - Using Earth's Magnetic Field to Eject CO2 (economist.com)

Submitted by rrkap on Thursday May 31, 2007 @03:11PM

rrkap writes: At last week's meeting of the American Geophysical Union, Alfred Wong of the University of California, Los Angeles proposed using the Earth's magnetic field to eject Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere.

His proposal comes in two stages. "First, he has to ionise more CO2. There are many ways this might be done, but for a first experiment Dr Wong proposes zapping dust in the atmosphere with powerful lasers, to release electrons that can then combine with CO2. Having created the ions, he will then nudge those that have drifted upwards to the appropriate height with radio waves of exactly 17 cycles a second..."

Submission + - Al Gore talks about his book, confesses to read /.

Submitted by on Thursday May 31, 2007 @01:18PM

An anonymous reader writes: Al Gore has come out with his new Book — The Assault on Reason, and has generated quite a media buzz. Everybody asking is he going to run for president, and one of the more interesting interviews is available at Politico — where he confesses to be occasionally reading Slashdot.

"[Mr. Gore] has a Google news page and regularly reads about two dozen sites that range from traditional outlets like USA Today as well as new media venues like Slashdot.org, a technology site, and Huffington Post."

Al is also voicing himself in the upcoming Futurama movie.

Submission + - Scientists Identify How Body Senses Cold

Submitted by Vicissidude on Wednesday May 30, 2007 @07:42PM

Vicissidude writes: As an ice cream melts in your mouth this summer, take a moment to contemplate the protein that may be bringing you that sense of cool relief — and numbing your tongue. Researchers have pinned down the particular protein in mice used by the body to sense cold temperatures, and think that a similar one in humans does the same job. Mice rely on a single protein, called TRPM8, to sense both cold temperatures and menthol, the compound that gives mints their cool sensation. The sensor also controls the pain-relieving effect of cool temperatures, but does not seem to play an important role in the response to painfully cold temperatures below 10 C. TRPM8 is in the same family as the protein that detects heat and capsaicin, the compound that makes peppers hot. These proteins lie in the cell membranes of select neurons, and form channels that open and close in response to external signals.

Submission + - A new HD-DVD processing key in the wild

Submitted by Wookieblaster on Wednesday May 30, 2007 @05:59AM

Wookieblaster writes: If you didn't order your "09 F9" shirt yet, hold your horses. Apparently a person or a group called BtCB posted another working processing key to replace the previous, now-revoked key that caused havoc on numerous message boards, especially Digg.com.

Submission + - Prof denied tenure for Intelligent Design belief

Submitted by isabull on Friday May 25, 2007 @04:48PM

isabull writes: Two Iowa State University (ISU) faculty members of the department that rejected astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez's tenure application have admitted that his work on intelligent design played a role in the department's denial of tenure. "What possible academic reason was there to deny tenure to a candidate who met or exceeded every requirement?" asked Dr. John West, associate director of Discovery Institute's Center for Science & Culture, the nation's leading think-tank supporting research into the scientific theory of intelligent design. "This is clearly a case of viewpoint discrimination and an attack on Dr. Gonzalez's academic freedom and free speech rights." http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php? command=view&id=4064&program=CSC%20-%20Views%20and %20News

Submission + - Reactor that chews up old nuke waste to be built?

Submitted by

zentropa

on Thursday May 24, 2007 @07:24PM

zentropa writes: "A nuclear reactor that chews up old radioactive waste, can never melt down and cannot be used to make weapons? Sounds too good to be true, but that's apparently the promise of a new type of thorium reactor, according to a feature in Cosmos Magazine. It's theorectically possible to build such a reactor, but no-one's done it yet. But now the Norwegians have decided to seriously investigate the construction of such an accelerator-driven thorium-fuelled plant. Why isn't everyone looking into this?"

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