The high muzzle velocity (nearly 1000 m/s) is what contributes most to the lethality.

Rockefeller and his blasted oil wells are threatening the survival of my horse-fodder supply store! I'm calling my solicitor!

China and the US have similar reserves of coal (about a quarter of the world's supply each.) Coal is a PITA to transport compared to natural gas (weight vs. energy). There's lot's of natural gas in the Arctic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_exploration_in_the_Arctic, which is probably why China is building icebreakers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Xue_Long. When their second one is built, they will have as many active as the U.S., which *is* an Arctic nation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_Council with corresponding mineral rights http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Convention_on_the_Law_of_the_Sea.

At Erntedankfest http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erntedankfest?

It seems like this will compete for the Wii / casual gamer crowd (or Apple TV), especially if it isn't restricted to just games but allows any Windows 8 apps to run.

Decide for yourself: http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/contents.html

Delusional much?

A good friend of mine wound up with an aerospace engineering degree from Auburn ('88). He wound up programming at a .com in the 90s and cashed in his options around '98 (a couple million). He still works (software development) on projects that interest him but at his own pace and when he wants too. I find that people tend pigeonhole science and engineering degrees too much. I'm a geologist but I've managed projects, coded (exclusively) back in the 90s, worked as a geographer/GIS analyst/cartographer, worked in labs, worked in the field, SCUBA dive (for work), and have supervised subordinates and subcontractors. Studying a STEM field prepares you for a myriad of future options, especially if you prepare by taking a few classes outside your immediate major (e.g. a couple extra chemistry, programming, language, accounting, or statistics classes if you normally aren't expected to). I took a bunch of programming, logic, and business classes in addition to my geology curriculum...definitely paid off for me. Studying "difficult" STEM subjects instills discipline, builds confidence, teaches problem-solving, hones critical-thinking skills, and prepares you for an amorphous future.

If you read the article, you will find that "NASA's Curiosity rover is poised to settle the question as early as this week." No findings have been released as no data has been acquired (at least nothing acknowledged in the article). In any case, the presence of methane is of less interest than the concentration; it is found in interstellar space http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1991ApJ...376..556L

I read the article and it sounds like this guy is debugging and QCing by submission. He sounds like a sloppy programmer. Microsoft rejected his app and gave him the technical reasons why. He failed two more resubmissions. The first two comments on his blog sum it up nicely:

"We had the opposite experience. We ported a complex WP7 XNA game to Windows 8. We got invited to the App Excellence Lab. We won an early access token. We submitted to the store in July and passed on the first try. To date we've submitted to the store 3 times and passed all three times."

"Makes me wonder if his code is very inefficient"

Personally, I'm glad they are rejecting apps that don't work or perform as required.