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Submission Summary: 0 pending, 20 declined, 7 accepted (27 total, 25.93% accepted)

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Submission + - Analog design guru Bob Pease dead at 70 (electronicdesign.com)

Submitted by Ellis D. Tripp
Ellis D. Tripp writes: Former National Semiconductor staff scientist and Electronic Design "Pease Porridge" columnist Robert A. Pease (RAP) was killed yesterday in an automobile accident. Ironically, he was returning from a memorial service for fellow analog design legend Jim Williams, who passed earlier in the week. Perhaps even more ironically, Pease was the author of a a book on defensive driving (http://www.amazon.com/How-Drive-into-Accidents-Not/dp/0965564819). The vehicle that he was driving was his beloved 1969 VW Beetle, which he had written about in his ED column many times.

Submission + - Energy drink maker sues microbrewer over name... (youtube.com)

Submitted by Ellis D. Tripp
Ellis D. Tripp writes: The Hansen Beverage corporation (makers of "Monster" energy drinks) is threatening Vermont's Rock Art Brewery (http://rockartbrewery.com/) with trademark infringement litigation over the brewery's "Vermonster" barleywine style ale. Matt Nadeau, the brewery owner is vowing to fight rather than simply rolling over (as advised by his legal counsel). To this end he has posted a video about the situation on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbG_woqXTeg), enlisted several local retailers to begin a boycott of Hansen's products, appeared on local media outlets, and drawn vocal support from across the beer blogs.

Media clips and lots more info available here:

http://rockartbrewery.com/SAVE_VERMONSTER.html
Space

Submission + - World's largest Model Rocket makes perfect flight

Submitted by
Ellis D. Tripp
Ellis D. Tripp writes: "Steve Eves' 1:10 scale Saturn V rocket (Slashdot story here:http://entertainment.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/18/1731216) turned in a perfect launch and recovery at Higgs farm, Price MD today. The 1600 pound rocket reached an altitude of nearly 4000 feet, and recovered perfectly under multiple parachutes. The booster section came to rest standing upright on the fins! Amazing flight video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bj4lj6YSwzg

Congratulations to Steve and all the launch volunteers at MDRA for a spectacular launch!"
Space

Submission + - Rocket Hobbyists prevail over Feds in court case

Submitted by
Ellis D. Tripp
Ellis D. Tripp writes: "DC District Court judge Reggie Walton has finally ruled in the 9-year old court case pitting the model rocketry community against the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE). The ruling is a "slam dunk" for the rocketry community, stating that the BATFE ignored scientific evidence and overstepped their bounds by classifying ammonium perchlorate composite propellant (APCP) as an "explosive". Effective immediately, the BATFE has no legal jurisdiction over hobby rocket motors, and a federal Low Explosives User's Permit (LEUP) will no longer be needed in order to purchase APCP motors.

Full text of the Judge's decision here:

http://www.rocketryplanet.com/images/pdf/ATFE-03-16-09.pdf"
NASA

Submission + - Space Station toilet craps out (cnn.com)

Submitted by
Ellis D. Tripp
Ellis D. Tripp writes: "CNN is reporting that the toilet on the ISS is malfunctioning, and that this weekend's shuttle launch may be needed to bring up replacement parts. Plumbers aren't cheap, but I can imagine the charge for an orbital housecall! The crew is using the plastic bag "backup system" in the meantime, so be on the lookout for the constellation "Urion" over your town tonight... http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/05/27/space.toilet.ap/index.html"
Republicans

Submission + - Are engineers potential terrorist recruits? (eetimes.com)

Submitted by Ellis D. Tripp
Ellis D. Tripp writes: According to a recent sociology paper (http://www.nuff.ox.ac.uk/users/gambetta/Engineers%20of%20Jihad.pdf) out of Oxford university, the historic political/social conservatism of the engineering profession predisposes engineers to develop a "terrorist mindset".

No word on what forms of idiocy sociologists might be predisposed to, though...
Security

Submission + - NYC seeks to ban Geiger counters and Air monitors (villagevoice.com)

Submitted by
Ellis D. Tripp
Ellis D. Tripp writes: "The city of New York is pushing legislation that would ban private ownership of certain scientific instruments that could give warning of excessive pollution or radioactive contamination. The proposed law would specifically target Geiger counters and air particulate sampling equipment. The alleged rationale behind the law is to prevent false alarms that might panio the public, but after the coverup surrounding the air quality in lower Manhattan immediately after the (/11 attacks, perhaps the REAL goal is to prevent independent scientific study that might contradict the official party line?

From the article:

[quote]"There are currently no guidelines regulating the private acquisition of biological, chemical, and radiological detectors," warned Falkenrath, adding that this law was suggested by officials within the Department of Homeland Security. "There are no consistent standards for the type of detectors used, no requirement that they be reported to the police department — or anyone else, for that matter — and no mechanism for coordinating these devices. . . . Our mutual goal is to prevent false alarms . . . by making sure we know where these detectors are located, and that they conform to standards of quality and reliability."[/quote]

This is not the first law that would restrict the sales of scientific apparatus to the general public. The state of Texas already bans a large list of glassware and laboratory equipment without a permit from (and periodic inspections by) law enforcement."
Space

Submission + - Recreating John Glenn's flight, 50 years later (aio50.org)

Submitted by
Ellis D. Tripp
Ellis D. Tripp writes: "A consortium of industry and universities is planning to recreate John Glenn's project mercury orbital flight, to commemorate the upcoming 50th anniversary of the event. The plan is to build a replica mercury capsule from the original plans, and launch it atop a modern booster. The project is intended to advance space science education, and reignite interest in space exploration among American youth.

No news on how the astronaut will be chosen yet.

http://www.aio50.org/index.html"
The Courts

Submission + - Drug testing entire cities at once

Submitted by
Ellis D. Tripp
Ellis D. Tripp writes: "Researchers have developed a technique for determining what illicit drugs people might be consuming in a given area, by testing a sample from the local sewage treatment plant. As little as a teaspoonful of untreated wastewater can reveal drug use patterns in a given community. From the article:

"one fairly affluent community scored low for illicit drugs except for cocaine. Cocaine and ecstasy tended to peak on weekends and drop on weekdays, she said, while methamphetamine and prescription drugs were steady throughout the week."

Obviously, any drugs found can't be tied to any specific user, but how much longer until the drug warriors want to deploy automatic sampling units farther upstream of the sewage treatment plant, sampling sewage output from selected neighborhoods, blocks, or even individual houses?

http://www.townhall.com/news/sci-tech/2007/08/21/s cientists_drug-test_whole_cities"
Businesses

Submission + - Australian court rules eBay auctions as binding

Submitted by
Ellis D. Tripp
Ellis D. Tripp writes: "An Australian court has ruled that an eBay seller cannot back out of an auction sale once it is successfully completed. The court has ordered a seller to hand over a vintage airplane to an eBayer who bid just over the reserve price of $128,000, despite a subsequent non-eBay offer of over $200,000. More details here:

http://www.comcast.net/news/technology/index.jsp?c at=TECHNOLOGY&fn=/2007/08/03/730424.html"
United States

Submission + - OTC baking soda sales targeted in War on Drugs

Submitted by
Ellis D. Tripp
Ellis D. Tripp writes: "A Missouri state legislator is seeking to regulate BAKING SODA sales in hopes of curbing crack cocaine production.

In a bill introduced in late March, Rep. Talibdin El-Amin (D-St. Louis) says he wants to put baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, behind the pharmaceutical counter.

No word if vinegar will be next, to prevent grade school science classes from manufacturing volcanoes of mass destruction...

http://www.kfvs12.com/Global/story.asp?S=6336785&n av=8H3x"
The Internet

Submission + - "Conservapedia" claims to fight Wikipedia

Submitted by
Ellis D. Tripp
Ellis D. Tripp writes: "A group of religious right activists has launched "Conservapedia" in an attempt to counter the perceived "liberal bias" in the Wikipedia. A few examples of the "corrections":

Dinosaurs
Wikipedia
"Vertebrate animals that dominated terrestrial ecosystems for over 160m years, first appearing approximately 230m years ago."

Conservapedia
"They are mentioned in numerous places throughout the Good Book. For example, the behemoth in Job and the leviathan in Isaiah are almost certainly references to dinosaurs."

US Democratic party
Wikipedia
"The party advocates civil liberties, social freedoms, equal rights, equal opportunity, fiscal responsibility, and a free enterprise system tempered by government intervention."

Conservapedia
"The Democrat voting record reveals a true agenda of cowering to terrorism, treasonous anti-Americanism, and contempt for America's founding principles."

Article here:

http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breakin g_news/breaking_news__international_news/&articlei d=300812

Site here:

http://www.conservapedia.com/"
NASA

Submission + - Computer analysis sets NASA history straight

Submitted by Ellis D. Tripp
Ellis D. Tripp writes: Computer analysis has upheld Neil Armstrong's version of the first words spoken on the lunar surface. The word "a" was dropped due to a communications glitch, and Armstrong has been accused of flubbing his words since the historic 1969 landing. The corrected statement was "That's one small step for *A* man, One giant leap for mankind."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4225505. html

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