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Submission + - NASA Confirms Solar Storm near 2012

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 20, 2007 @07:25PM

An anonymous reader writes: `This week researchers announced that a storm is coming — the most intense solar maximum in fifty years. The prediction comes from a team led by Mausumi Dikpati of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). "The next sunspot cycle will be 30% to 50% stronger than the previous one," she says. If correct, the years ahead could produce a burst of solar activity second only to the historic Solar Max of 1958.`

`Dikpati's forecast puts Solar Max at 2012. Hathaway believes it will arrive sooner, in 2010 or 2011.`

Anyone familiar with the Mayan Calendar? December 21, 2012 (13.0.0.0.0 in the Mayan Calendar) Coincidence?

Submission + - SpaceX Falcon 1 Launch approaching, again

Submitted by TopSpin on Tuesday March 20, 2007 @07:08PM

TopSpin writes: After scrubbing yesterday's attempt, the countdown has begun for a 17:05 Pacific launch of the SpaceX Falcon 1 Spacecraft. WMV (only) webcast here.

Submission + - NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts

Submitted by

Maggie McKee

on Tuesday March 20, 2007 @06:22PM

Maggie McKee writes: "NASA will likely shut down its Institute for Advanced Concepts, which funds research into futuristic — and often far-out — ideas in spaceflight and aeronautics, officials say. "This is one of the few places at NASA that embodies far-thinking, new stuff," NASAWatch editor Keith Cowing says. "When they're cutting stuff like this, they're desperate, or stupid, or both." The move was apparently motivated by a lack of money in NASA's budget — a problem that led to much criticism last year, when the agency cut science funding to pay for overruns in the shuttle program. But shutting down the institute to save $4 million in NASA's annual $17 billion budget shows NASA is now "going after nickels and dimes," Cowing says."

Submission + - Scientist Finds the Beginnings of Morality

Submitted by sas-dot on Tuesday March 20, 2007 @05:26PM

sas-dot writes: In an earlier New york times article reported here in slashdot, threw up many interesting questions like Which is the better biological explanation for a belief in God — evolutionary adaptation or neurological accident? Is there something about the cognitive functioning of humans that makes us receptive to belief in a supernatural deity?. Now Scientists question the Philosophers and Theologians hold on the subject of Morality as reported in this new article. They find Chimpanzees social behaviours as precursors for Human morality. So now Biologists holds the rules for morality?

Submission + - Possible massive meteorite found

Submitted by

johkir

on Tuesday March 20, 2007 @05:14PM

johkir writes: "Geologists think they may have found a meteorite the size of a small town. They were looking for oil but instead found space dust and a possible mammoth meteorite. The possible meteorite is buried deep in the ground about ten miles west of Stockton, Calif. in an area called Victoria Island. 3-D images show that the circular crater created by the rock is estimated to have been about 3 miles wide. The meteorite is also believed to have fallen to earth over 50 million years ago. Per the news feed, 'The impact would have been as powerful as 100-thousand atomic bomb blasts and would have been seen and heard for hundreds of miles.' BBC has the story, as does a local CBS affiliate (with flash video), and there is an abstract for the upcoming AAPG conference."

Submission + - "The Secret" Tested

Submitted by

PhilBowermaster

on Monday March 19, 2007 @10:12AM

PhilBowermaster writes: "As of this morning, The Secret is the #2 ranked book on Amazon.com, lagging behind only the new Harry Potter. As featured recently on Oprah and spoofed even more recently on SNL, The Secret purports to reveal the long-guarded principle that lies behind all human achievement.

Here we assert that a widespread test of The Secret has already taken place, with somewhat disappointing results."

Submission + - Ethanol's Growing List of Enemies

Submitted by Actual Reality on Monday March 19, 2007 @09:51AM

Actual Reality writes: As demand for the alternative fuel drives corn prices up, an unlikely assortment of groups are uniting with the hopes of cutting government support http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/conten t/mar2007/db20070316_016207.htm?campaign_id=rss_to pStories

Submission + - SpaceX to attempt launch of Falcon 1 today

Submitted by fatron on Monday March 19, 2007 @09:10AM

fatron writes: After yesterday's flight readiness review, SpaceX announced they will be attempting the second launch of their Falcon 1 Spacecraft today. The launch is scheduled for 4:00PM Pacific time, and the webcast can be viewed here.

Submission + - Interview - James Gosling, father of Java

Submitted by Minaloush on Monday March 19, 2007 @07:15AM

Minaloush writes: Interesting Q&A with Sun's James Gosling on silicon.com. The father of Java field questions on the GPL, security, the role of Java in the enterprise — and even reveals his — albeit limited — views on Windows Vista ("I tend to stay away from Microsoft [software] because it tends to be so toxic").

From the article:
If you come up with a good software development tool, that makes life easier for the developers and they can get their job done quicker, then the first thing the manager says is 'oh you've got free time on your hands. Do this extra thing'.

Submission + - TV Remote Inventor Dies Aged 93

Submitted by

biocute

on Tuesday February 20, 2007 @07:21PM

biocute writes: "Robert Adler, a US inventor best known for the creation of the couch potato's dream device, the TV remote control, has died at the age of 93. He received an Emmy award in 1997 for the 1956 invention jointly with fellow engineer Eugene Polley. Adler earned more than 180 US patents throughout his 58-year career."

Submission + - Terror and Stock Market

Submitted by sas-dot on Thursday February 15, 2007 @08:34PM

sas-dot writes: Terrorist attacks on vital institutions and installations often send stock indexes tumbling in the past. But the scenario is changing fast. Jihadi groups are now floating fictitious companies to manipulate stock markets to generate funds for their operations. India's National Security Advisor (NSA), M K Narayanan warned of similar developments in India citing isolated reports of companies that had come in from the Mumbai and Chennai stock exchanges , some of which were traced to terrorist outfits. IT companies / BPO's could be target and is not far fetching, considering what happen recently a BPO was supporting call services to drug laundering.

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