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Science

Creationists Violating Copyright 635

Posted by kdawson from the lawyer-on-speed-dial dept.
The_Rook writes "The Discovery Institute, more a lawyer mill than a scientific institution, copied Harvard University's BioVisions video 'The Inner Life of the Cell,' stripped out Harvard's copyright notice, credits, and narration, inserted their own creationist-friendly narration, and renamed the video 'The Cell As an Automated City.' The new title subtly suggests that a cell is designed rather than evolved."
Biotech

Backing Up Your Brain 204

Posted by CmdrTaco from the error-document-not-found dept.
couch_warrior writes "Microsoft is now working on a system that will back up the contents of your brain. The pilot project lacks a direct brain interface, but "MyLifeBits" will provide a simulacrum of actual memories. No mention is made as to whether Microsoft will claim to own the digital rights to the content of your life, or what license fees you will have to pay to access your own memories." Honestly this looks like a bunch of hooey to me, but I figured others would be better suited to say.
Patents

SanDisk Sues 25 Companies for Patent Infringement 202

Posted by Zonk from the who-isn't-sue-happy-nowadays dept.
dnormant writes "Suits have been filed against 25 companies by the SanDisk corporation this week, as the company looks to stop businesses from shipping products it alleges are infringing on its work. SanDisk has filed suits against everyone from MP3 player manufacturers to USB hard drive creators. The list of defendants is staggering, and MacWorld notes if Sandisk succeeds it could have repercussions outside of the courtroom. 'The company filed two lawsuits in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Wisconsin, one alleging the infringement of five patents in the ITC complaint, and another one including two additional patents not involved in the ITC action. The court and ITC complaints could affect the prices and availability of products made by companies targeted in the suit if SanDisk wins and the companies are barred from importing products into the U.S.'"
Software

Submission + - MySQL CEO says open source is unstoppable

Submitted by StonyandCher
StonyandCher writes: Despite a growing acceptance of open-source software, MySQL CEO Marten Mickos, said Monday in a keynote speech at the first-ever Ubuntu Live Conference, that there are also ongoing threats to open source development. Those threats, he told attendees, come from proprietary software companies such as Microsoft, which can spread criticism and doubt — backed by their legal and economic might — to push proprietary products.

"Microsoft can use [its] money in other ways to threaten free and open-source software, and I'm sure that they have," Mickos said. "But I think we will see less of that in the future because they've done it and it hasn't helped them."

"...I'm not too worried," Mickos said. "This open source movement is so strong that nothing can stop it anymore."
Software

Submission + - Data Visualization Tools for Linux

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In this article, I provide a survey of a number of popular Linux data visualization tools and include some insight into their other capabilities. Finally, I identify the strengths of each tool to help you decide which is best for your application. The open source tools that I explore in this article are gnuplot, GNU Octave, Scilab, MayaVi, Maxima, and OpenDX.
Businesses

Submission + - Verizon Copper Cutoff Traps Customers

Submitted by
theodp
theodp writes: "As it hooks up homes and businesses to its FiOS fiber-optic network service, Verizon has been routinely disconnecting the copper infrastructure that it was required to lease to other phone companies, locking customers into higher broadband bills, eliminating power outage safeguards, and hampering rivals. A Verizon spokesman argues customers are being given adequate notice of the copper cutoff, which includes this read-between-the-lines fine print: 'Current Verizon High Speed Internet customers who move to FiOS Internet service will have their Verizon High Speed Internet permanently disabled after their FiOS conversion.'"
Robotics

Submission + - Jumping robots for space exploration?

Submitted by
Roland Piquepaille
Roland Piquepaille writes: "According to a team of engineers at the University of Bath, "jumping is a good way to move over rough terrain, and is considerably easier to design than walking." PhysOrg.com reports that this is why they've designed two jumping robots inspired by animals. They think that their two new robots, Jollbot and Glumper, will help astronauts to during future space missions. As one researcher said, "the cost per kilogram of launching something into space is very large, so jumping robots, which are likely to be light in weight to maximize their own performance, are ideally suited from that perspective." Of course, such robots would also be useful to explore any other places involving traversing rough terrains such as volcanoes. Read more for additional references and excellent pictures of these jumping robots."
Quickies

Submission + - floating wind turbines (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by The Great Pulgoso
The Great Pulgoso writes: Norwegian energy group Norsk Hydro is to place giant floating wind turbines in the North Sea that will provide a reasonable, environmentally-friendly and economically feasible alternative to standard energy generation processes. The design uses a three-able tethered system, similar to the ones used in oil rigs, that holds a 200 meter tall steel tube with an attached turbine and three 60-meter-long blades. It expects to be able to use this technology on sites located 50-100 miles off shore, and with a depth of up to 500 meters. Images on the prototypes are on the link provided
Data Storage

Submission + - Artificial neural network storage - a first? (jpost.com)

Submitted by GovCheese
GovCheese writes: Two scientists at the University of Tel Aviv, Professors Baruchi and Ben-Jacob, claim to have stored information in an medium of a network of neurons cultured outside the brain. The stored information, which they called "memories," persisted for a matter of days. The short article in the Jerusalem Post remarks, "They are apparently the first in the world to have actually stored information in a cultured neural network for an extended period." Of course it was the headline "cyberbrain" that caught my attention, and the phrase in the article "neuro-silico cyberchip" isn't too shabby either. Johnny Mnemonic anyone?

Armed Police Bots with Stun Guns 219

Posted by Zonk from the we-don't-serve-their-kind-here dept.
foniksonik writes "'On 28 June, Taser International of Arizona announced plans to equip robots with stun guns ... the new stun-capable robots could be used against civilians.' Non-lethal weapons experts are concerned that the robots will have to stun the suspected criminal for longer periods of time while awaiting human police to come make the official arrest. "If someone is severely punished by an autonomous robot, who are you going to take to a tribunal?" asks Steve Wright, a security expert at Leeds Metropolitan University, UK."
Space

Submission + - Google Flips the Moon

Submitted by
proxima1
proxima1 writes: "Not only does Google think it can change the earth, it apparently has the power to change the orientation of the moon. Google's very own Lunar Phase widget that comes with their desktop presents us with a moon that is tilted 90 degrees clockwise, with the lunar "west" pole pointed up. Unless there has been a major astronomical event the NASA boys are not letting us in on, someone at the Big G was asleep in their astronomy classes. Google's arch rival Yahoo got it right however.

For Google's take on the earth's only satellite go here: http://www.distantsuns.com/images/google_moon.jpg.

But to see the way it should be: http://www.distantsuns.com/images/yahoo_moon.jpg"
Power

Submission + - Compressed air car from India could kill GM, EXXON

Submitted by
vaporland
vaporland writes: "This article in Business Week describes a car that runs on compressed air, ready for production in India. The fiberglass MiniC.A.T. runs on compressed air, and offers zero pollution and very low running costs. It is expected that US politicians will be able to easily refuel it by speaking into a hose located in the passenger compartment . . ."

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