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Sound As the New Illegal Narcotic? 561

ehrichweiss writes "The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics is warning parents and teachers of a new threat to our children: sounds. Apparently kids are now discovering binaural beats and using them to get 'physiological effects.' The report goes on with everyone suggesting that such aural experiences will act as a gateway to drug usage and even has one student claiming there are 'demons' involved. Anyone who has used one of those light/sound machines knows all about the effects that these sounds will give and to state that they will lead kids to do drugs is nonsense at best. It seems the trend in scaring the citizens with a made-up problem has gone to the next level."
Technology

Using EMP To Punch Holes In Steel 165

angrytuna writes "The Economist is running a story about a group of researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology in Chemnitz, Germany, who've found a way to use an EMP device to shape and punch holes through steel. The process enjoys advantages over both lasers, which take more time to bore the hole (0.2 vs. 1.4 seconds), and by metal presses, which can leave burrs that must be removed by hand."

Comment Re:WTF is up with the summary? (Score 1) 466

WTF is right. In general I agree as that far as the spin, loaded terms, and hyperbole, that the summary causes more danger from its bullshit emissions than the subject matter it "addresses"

As an addendum, which you might already be aware of:

One reason tritium is pricey on the world's markets is that it is especially useful in producing boosted fission weapons, which greatly exceed the efficiency of the chain reaction. In a fission weapon one key performance factor is doubling time (aka "alpha") which represents the time required for the number of fission reactions to increase by 2x. The shorter the doubling time in an exponentially based energetic reaction such as fission, the (much) more energy is produced -- in the A-bomb case it's crucial to have as many doublings as possible before explosive disassembly overcomes inertial confinement. Even the misnamed "H-Bombs" (2+ stage devices) produce most of their yield from fission processes, so similar principles apply.

But as you stated, tritium leakages are not a cause for concern, unless one has magic tiny tritium-gobbling nano-machines in the air that will collect the isotope and sell it to the highest bidder prior to decay or diffusion.

Comment Re:Not smart (Score 1) 173

You're correct, and it has gotten easier and the mills are far more cheap and capable than back in the day. But, building even a 70's era fighter jet required a big complex infrastructure, of which working with Titanium was but one part. Precision turbine blades were/are another. Getting all the damn pieces to actually work together w/o blowing up is another. But on your point, you're right, and the guy you spoke of is certainly more of an expert on that aspect than I was.

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