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Government

Submission + - Random police dog searches unconstitutional (thestar.com) 1

Submitted by
Mark Cicero
Mark Cicero writes: "The Canadian Supreme Court announced two 6-2 decisions today that severely restrict the use of police drug sniffing dogs. 'As with briefcases, purses and suitcases, backpacks are the repository of much that is personal. . . . Teenagers may have little expectation of privacy from the searching eyes and fingers of their parents, but they expect the contents of their backpacks not to be open to the random and speculative scrutiny of the police. This expectation is a reasonable one that society should support.'"
Earth

Submission + - T-Rex Protein Correlated To Modern Birds (washingtonpost.com)

Submitted by
space_cowboy
space_cowboy writes: "Today's Washington Post. Not a new study, but an extension of the previous studies of preserved collagen. Protein studies seem to me to be more likely in fossils, since there's so much more protein than DNA, and the DNA tends to be more durable. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/24/AR2008042402025.html?hpid=sec-nation&sid=ST2008042500958"
Medicine

Submission + - Inside the Only X Prize That Could Save Your Life (popularmechanics.com)

Submitted by
longacre
longacre writes: "On National DNA Day, Popular Mechanics takes the first extensive look at the Archon X Prize in Genomics, the $10 million race for a cheap, disease-hunting gene sequencer that could land on your kitchen counter sooner than you think. "Unlike the 100-mpg race for the Progressive Automotive X Prize or the YouTube moon shot of the Google Lunar X Prize, the unheralded Archon X Prize in Genomics has world-changing implications at stake within a decade — or sooner. In 10 years, these things will be small enough and cheap enough to have next to your toaster," says Jason Bobe, director of community for PGx. "We'll be sequencing everything — a plant from your garden or an Angus beef steak — to see if it's the real thing.""
Biotech

Submission + - Happy DNA Day (genome.gov)

Submitted by
dooling
dooling writes: "Perhaps the passage of GINA in the Senate yesterday was a pre-celebration of National DNA Day today. As the web page says, "National DNA Day commemorates the successful completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003 and the discovery of DNA's double helix by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1953." (Don't forget Rosalind Franklin.) You can celebrate National DNA Day by extracting some DNA (from strawberries, not yourself or your friends)."
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - The Real Max Planck 1

Submitted by orzetto
orzetto writes: Spiegel Online reports that a final proof has been obtained about the fact that the physicist we know as Max Planck was actually named Marx (Google translation), which was meant as a short form for the original Latin Marcus (there is in fact a neighbourhood in Vienna called Sankt Marx). The proof came from multiple entries in a church record in Kiel, where he was baptised: the document is signed by the local pastor and is therefore still fully legally valid. And yes, his second name was Karl.
Democrats

Submission + - Marijuana Decriminalization Bill Introduced (loc.gov)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The first federal marijuana decriminalization bill in 25 years was just introduced in Congress. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) introduced H.R. 5843, the "Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2008," which would decriminalize possession of marijuana for personal use.
Television

Submission + - NBC to Create Programs Centered on Sponsors (physorg.com)

Submitted by
explosivejared
explosivejared writes: "It sounds farcical when you first hear it, but NBC has teamed up with an ad agency to produce actual feature programs that are centered around promoting the products of the network's sponsors. The network has already began production on one sci-fi program entitled "Gemini Division", which will act as a platform for products from Microsoft, Intel, and Cisco. The programming will be broadcast via the network's "digital properties", eg the NBC web site. I guess it was only a matter of time for something like this to come along after product placement became the norm."
Communications

Submission + - AT&T: Internet to hit full capacity by 2010 (zdnet.com)

Submitted by
Duncan Blackthorne
Duncan Blackthorne writes: "Speaking at a Westminster eForum on Web 2.0 this week in London, Jim Cicconi, vice president of legislative affairs for AT&T, warned that the current systems that constitute the Internet will not be able to cope with the increasing amounts of video and user-generated content being uploaded. "The surge in online content is at the center of the most dramatic changes affecting the Internet today," he said. "In three years' time, 20 typical households will generate more traffic than the entire Internet today.""

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