Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×

Submission + - In response to open access journals, Nature starts own (Beer-free) Library (nature.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The fact that access to scientific journals is expensive and that universities in developing countries can't afford them has been one of the key points for open access journals. Nature has started now a "world library of science" to offer content to developing countries (and everyone else) for free, but without a permissive license. Unesco also allowed to add its logo to the front page.

Submission + - Geologists Who Didn't Predict an Earthquake Aren't Killers, Italian Court Rules

Submitted by Jason Koebler
Jason Koebler writes: Geologists who didn't warn a town about an impending earthquake are not murderers, an Italian appeals court ruled today.
A 2012 decision that rocked the scientific world was overturned today by an appeals court, according to Italy's Repubblica newspapers and confirmed by other Italian outlets. In that decision, six prominent geologists and one government worker were convicted of manslaughter for failing to notify the town of L'Aquila of a 2009 earthquake that killed at least 309 people. The scientists were originally sentenced to six years in prison and were to pay more than $10 million in damages.

Submission + - Gridlock In Action: Retailers Demand New Regulations To Protect Consumers (securityledger.com)

Submitted by chicksdaddy
chicksdaddy writes: How bad is the gridlock in Washington D.C.? So bad that the nation's retailers are calling for federal legislation on cyber security and data protection to protect consumer information — this even though they would bear the brunt of whatever legislation is passed.

The Security Ledger notes (https://securityledger.com/2014/11/retailers-demanding-federal-action-on-data-breach/) that groups representing many of the nation's retailers sent a letter to Congressional leaders last week urging them to pass federal data protection legislation that sets clear rules for businesses serving consumers. The letter, dated November 6, was addressed to the majority and minority party leaders of the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives and signed by 44 state and national organizations representing retailers, including the National Retail Federation, the National Grocers Association, the National Restaurant Association and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, among others.

“The recent spate of news stories about data security incidents raises concerns for all American consumers and for the businesses with which they frequently interact,” the letter reads. “A single federal law applying to all breached entities would ensure clear, concise and consistent notices to all affected consumers regardless of where they live or where the breach occurs.”

Retailers would likely bare the brunt of a new federal data protection law. The motivation for pushng for one anyway may be simplicity. Currently, there are 47 different state-based security breach notification laws, as well as laws in the District of Columbia and Guam. (http://www.ncsl.org/research/telecommunications-and-information-technology/security-breach-notification-laws.aspx) There is broad, bi-partisan agreement on the need for a data breach and consumer protection law. However, small differences of opinion on its scope and provisions, exacerbated by political gridlock in Congress since 2010 have combined to stay the federal government’s hand.

Comment Ebola is harder to catch than most people think. (Score 4, Informative) 349

by SemperUbi (#48275823) Attached to: Suspected Ebola carriers in the U.S. ...
From an editorial in this week's New England Journal of Medicine by Jeffrey Drazen et al:

"Health care professionals treating patients with this illness have learned that transmission arises from contact with bodily fluids of a person who is symptomatic — that is, has a fever, vomiting, diarrhea, and malaise. We have very strong reason to believe that transmission occurs when the viral load in bodily fluids is high, on the order of millions of virions per microliter. This recognition has led to the dictum that an asymptomatic person is not contagious; field experience in West Africa has shown that conclusion to be valid. Therefore, an asymptomatic health care worker returning from treating patients with Ebola, even if he or she were infected, would not be contagious. Furthermore, we now know that fever precedes the contagious stage, allowing workers who are unknowingly infected to identify themselves before they become a threat to their community. This understanding is based on more than clinical observation: the sensitive blood polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) test for Ebola is often negative on the day when fever or other symptoms begin and only becomes reliably positive 2 to 3 days after symptom onset."

Comment Re:Isn't delivery still a problem? (Score 1) 64

by SemperUbi (#46432607) Attached to: Genomic Medicine, Finally
Genomic medicine can be as simple as having your genome sequenced and interpreted by someone who knows what they're doing. Healthy people usually have several genetic polymorphisms or mutations, only some of which are significant, and sequencing can help you learn which genetic findings are significant health risks, and which are harmless. What you're talking about is gene therapy, which is a lot more involved.

Slashdot Top Deals

1 + 1 = 3, for large values of 1.

Close