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Science

Periodic Table of Elements To Get an Update 99

Posted by timothy from the elementally-my-dear-watson dept.
Lazarian writes "Scientists from around the world have put forth an update to the Periodic Table of Elements. In particular, they are changing the manner in which atomic weights of ten elements are expressed. From the article: 'For example, sulfur is commonly known to have a standard atomic weight of 32.065. However, its actual atomic weight can be anywhere between 32.059 and 32.076, depending on where the element is found.'"
Science

Submission + - Atomic weight not so constant (yahoo.com)

Submitted by DangerousBeauty
DangerousBeauty writes: Yahoo has a Canadian Press story up about new changes to the periodic table of elements, concerning the weight of specific elements, and the fact that the weights fluctuate based on where they are found in nature. From the article ""People are probably comfortable with having a single value for the atomic weight, but that is not the reality for our natural world." says University of Calgary associate professor Michael Wieser.
Nintendo

Submission + - 25 Years of Super Mario Bros. (technologizer.com)

Submitted by harrymcc
harrymcc writes: On September 13th 1985, Nintendo released Super Mario Bros. for the Famicom (NES) in Japan. It went on to become the best-selling video game of all time, a title it only recently lost. Over at Technologizer, Benj Edwards is celebrating the anniversary with a look at some of the weirdest variations, spinoffs, and tributes the game has inspired over the years, from edibles to art projects.
Sci-Fi

Submission + - The Many Iterations of William Shatner (nytimes.com) 1

Submitted by pickens
pickens writes: The NY Times weekend magazine has a long profile, well worth reading of self-described "working actor" William Shatner who began acting at age 6 and who at one point in the late 1950's was mentioned in the same breath as his contemporaries Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, Robert Redford — until, without explanation, his career faded before it bloomed. Shatner, now 79, pulls no punches in his memories of the Star Trek years. "I never thought it'd become a big deal, just 13 episodes and out," says Shatner. "I didn't think I was hard to get along with. There were a few disaffected actors who came in once a week. I had nothing to do with them. Friendly! I was working seven days a week, learning 10 pages of dialogue a day. They had one line! Then after the show was canceled and the Star Trek phenomenon began, those actors would go to the conventions. They'd get applause, praise, and begin to think, 'Hey, I was wonderful, and Shatner stole the spotlight.'"

Submission + - Argentine ISP to close in 90 days by Govt decision

Submitted by Doctor Jonas
Doctor Jonas writes: Argentine ISP Fibertel has been barred to follow up their operations because of the dissolution of their status as a company, previously being absorbed by Cablevisión of Argentina, now part of media conglomerate Grupo Clarín. The Minister of Planning Julio de Vido announced the measure, and said it was Grupo Clarín's own doing by having shut down the Fibertel company and turning it into merely a commercial brand, and that ISP licenses are not transferable after acquisitions from one company to the other. The Argentine opposition said the move was another attack into Grupo Clarín's standing and another part of the feud between them and President Cristina Fernández and her husband, former president Nestor Kirchner. Cablevisión has promised to go to the courts to overturn the decision, even with TV ads, and the opposition seeks to protect Fibertel's continuing operations through a bill in Congress. More than a million households and businesses would need to change ISPs in merely 90 days, possibly strengthening the internet provisioning dominance of both Telefónica (subsidiary of the Spanish Telefonica) and Telecom.
Games

Submission + - 'Starcraft II' Sells 1.5M Copies in First 48 Hours 4

Submitted by adeelarshad82
adeelarshad82 writes: Blizzard Entertainment announced that "Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty" sold 1.5 million copies in the first 48 hours. The highly anticipated game sold 1 million copies in the first 24 hours, going on to sell an additional 500,000 copies the following day. This makes "Starcraft II" the fastest-selling strategy game of all time. "Starcraft II" hit stores in North America, Europe, and more than a dozen other countries worldwide on June 27.
Space

ESA Releases Lutetia Flyby Images 48

Posted by Soulskill from the pretty-pictures dept.
The European Space Agency has released images from yesterday's close approach of asteroid 21 Lutetia by the Rosetta probe. At its closest, the probe was a mere 3,162 km from the asteroid, passing at 15 km/s and snapping photos sharp enough to make out features as small as 60 meters. "Rosetta operated a full suite of sensors at the encounter, including remote sensing and in-situ measurements. Some of the payload of its Philae lander were also switched on. Together they looked for evidence of a highly tenuous atmosphere, magnetic effects, and studied the surface composition as well as the asteroid’s density. ... The flyby marks the attainment of one of Rosetta's main scientific objectives. The spacecraft will now continue to a 2014 rendezvous with its primary target, comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It will then accompany the comet for months, from near the orbit of Jupiter down to its closest approach to the Sun. In November 2014, Rosetta will release Philae to land on the comet nucleus." There is also a replay of the media event webcast on the ESA's website.
Science

The Proton Just Got Smaller 289

Posted by samzenpus from the size-does-matter dept.
inflame writes "A new paper published in Nature has said that the proton may be smaller than we previously thought. The article states 'The difference is so infinitesimal that it might defy belief that anyone, even physicists, would care. But the new measurements could mean that there is a gap in existing theories of quantum mechanics. "It's a very serious discrepancy," says Ingo Sick, a physicist at the University of Basel in Switzerland, who has tried to reconcile the finding with four decades of previous measurements. "There is really something seriously wrong someplace."' Would this indicate new physics if proven?"

Submission + - Konami code invades Newsweek (newsweek.com)

Submitted by Tridus
Tridus writes: If you go to Newsweek right now and type in the Konami code (up up down down left right left right b a enter), you'll discover the secret real version of Newsweek. Only worked in IE for me for some reason.

Submission + - UVB-76 goes offline. (abovetopsecret.com)

Submitted by leathered
leathered writes: Tinfoil hatters around the world are abuzz that UVB-76, the Russian shortwave radio station that has been broadcasting its monotonous tone almost uninterrupted since 1982, has suddenly gone offline. Of course no one knows what the significance of this is, but best brush up on your drills just in case.
Patents

Submission + - Apple, Intel & others sued over Bluetooth pate

Submitted by adeelarshad82
adeelarshad82 writes: Wi-Lan Inc, the Canadian technology licensing company, has filed a lawsuit accusing 19 computer and phone companies of infringing a patent by selling laptops and cellular handsets enabled with Bluetooth technology. Among the defendants are some of the world's best-known technology providers, including Apple Inc, Dell Inc, Hewlett-Packard Co and Intel Corp. In a complaint filed earlier this week in a Marshall, Texas, federal court, Wi-Lan said the 19 companies are deliberately infringing its 1996 patent, "method for frequency sharing and frequency punch-out in frequency hopping communications network," by selling Bluetooth-enabled products.
Classic Games (Games)

OpenTTD 1.0.0 Released 107

Posted by Soulskill from the and-so-soon dept.
Gmer writes "Eming.com reports that OpenTTD, the open source clone of the Microprose game Transport Tycoon Deluxe, has reached a milestone. OpenTTD 1.0.0 has been released 6 years after work started on the first version, with the help of hundreds of contributors and thousands of testers/players. Over 30 language translations are considered complete, and OpenTTD is available for *BSD, Linux, Solaris and Windows. OpenTTD is a business simulation game in which the player is in control of a transport company and can compete against rival companies to make as much profit as possible by transporting passengers and various goods by road, rail, sea or air."

Submission + - NASA's Kepler mission finds 5 new planets (usatoday.com)

Submitted by diewlasing
diewlasing writes: Opening a new chapter in planet hunting, NASA scientists reported Monday the discovery of five worlds orbiting nearby stars, using the space agency's Kepler space telescope....
Biotech

Submission + - How Norway Fought Staph Infections (yahoo.com)

Submitted by eldavojohn
eldavojohn writes: Studies are showing that Norway's dirtiest hospitals are actually cleaner than most other countries and the reason for this is that Norwegians stopped taking antibiotics. A number of factors like paid sick leave and now advertising for drugs make Norway an anomaly when it comes to diseases like Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). A Norwegian doctor explains, 'We don't throw antibiotics at every person with a fever. We tell them to hang on, wait and see, and we give them a Tylenol to feel better.' Norway is the most MRSA free country in the world. In a country like Japan where 17,000 die from MRSA every year, 'doctors overprescribe antibiotics because they are given financial incentives to push drugs on patients.' Is it time to rethink our obsession with medication in the US?

Submission + - Thorium, the next nuclear fuel? (wired.com) 1

Submitted by mrshermanoaks
mrshermanoaks writes: When the nuclear choices were being made, we went with uranium because it had the byproduct of producing plutonium that could be weaponized. But thorium is safer and easier to work with, and may cause a lot fewer headaches. So why are we not building these reactors?

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