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Doctor Who actress Elisabeth Sladen dies->

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "Doctor Who star Elisabeth Sladen, who was also in spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures, has died aged 63.

Sladen appeared as Doctor Who assistant Sarah Jane Smith in the BBC television sci-fi series between 1973 and 1976, opposite Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker.

The Liverpool-born actress appeared in four series from 2007 of The Sarah Jane Adventures on children's channel CBBC."
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Comment: Re:hard to see how this works (Score 2, Informative) 782

by M4DP4RROT (#34384926) Attached to: US Army Unveils 'Revolutionary' $35,000 Rifle
There's a video at the bottom of the page which contains some super-slo-mo shots of the projectiles detonating. There are quite a lot more than 20 fragments, actually, more like hundreds. And they spread over an area of slightly less than a half-sphere forward of the explosion.

Comment: Re:um (Score 4, Informative) 379

by M4DP4RROT (#33804408) Attached to: Canadian Spammer Fined Over $1 Billion

It's pretty fucking simple this guys... Don't mess it up.

A US court ruling has no power to get anything from the guy as long as he and all his possessions are outside of the US. Before anything happens in Canada a Canadian court needs to look at the case and see if it agrees on the ruling.

From the summary:

A ruling by by a US District Court judge in San Jose, California has now been upheld by the Quebec Superior Court

Comment: Re:In our lifetime... (Score 1) 32

by M4DP4RROT (#30791828) Attached to: Spectrum of Light Captured From Distant World

With the current (as always exponential) rate of telescope development, we will get to a Google-maps-like resolution or even better.

No need to go that far - all we need is to find a planet, using a somewhat higher resolution method than that in TFA, that has an atmosphere with the right temperature and composition for life, and then see if that atmosphere contains chemicals that do not occur in nature and are the byproduct of basic industrial processes. Essentially, find a planet with air pollution, and you've probably found a planet with intelligent life.

Space

Spectrum of Light Captured From Distant World 32

Posted by Soulskill
from the what-are-you-made-of dept.
An anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from Cosmos: "Astronomers have made the first direct capture of a spectrum of light from a planet outside the Solar System and are deciphering its composition. The light was snared from a giant planet that orbits a bright young star called HR 8799 about 130 light-years from Earth, said the European Southern Observatory (ESO). ... The find is important, because hidden within a light spectrum are clues about the relative amounts of different elements in the planet's atmosphere. 'The features observed in the spectrum are not compatible with current theoretical models,' said co-author Wolfgang Brandner. 'We need to take into account a more detailed description of the atmospheric dust clouds, or accept that the atmosphere has a different chemical composition from that previously assumed.' The result represents a milestone in the search for life elsewhere in the universe, said the ESO. Until now, astronomers have been able to get only an indirect light sample from an exoplanet, as worlds beyond our Solar System are called. They do this by measuring the spectrum of a star twice — while an orbiting exoplanet passes near to the front of it, and again while the planet is directly behind it. The planet's spectrum is thus calculated by subtracting one light sample from another."

It will be advantageous to cross the great stream ... the Dragon is on the wing in the Sky ... the Great Man rouses himself to his Work.