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Smart Camera Tells Tobacco from Marijuana->

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "A new smart camera technology not only takes a picture but also assays chemical composition, allowing photographers to tell whether that hand-rolled cigarette contains tobacco or marijuana. Designed to speed industrial inspection systems--such as detecting whether food is spoiled--the new smart camera includes spectral filters that make images of corn fields appear differently from hemp. Spectral cameras have been available for decades, but this microchip version should be cheap enough for almost any application--including law enforcement."
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TomTom satnavs to set insurance prices-> 1

Submitted by
nk497
nk497 writes "TomTom has signed a deal with an insurance firm that will see its satnavs used to monitor drivers. Fair Pay Insurance, part of Motaquote, will use monitoring systems built into the TomTom PRO 3100 to watch for sharp braking and badly managed turns, rewarding "good" drivers with lower premiums and warning less skilled motorists when they aren't driving as they should. "We've dispensed with generalisations and said to our customers, if you believe you're a good driver, we'll believe you and we'll even give you the benefit up front," said Nigel Lombard of Fair Pay Insurance."
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Scorpions may have lessons to teach aircraft designers->

Submitted by
elloGov
elloGov writes ""THE north African desert scorpion, Androctonus australis, is a hardy creature. Most animals that live in deserts dig burrows to protect themselves from the sand-laden wind. Not Androctonus. It usually toughs things out at the surface. Yet when the sand whips by at speeds that would strip paint away from steel, the scorpion is able to scurry off without apparent damage."
Dr Han Zhiwu of Jilin University and colleagues have found that surface irregularity in aircraft design could substantially minimize atmospheric dust damage that aircrafts endure. What implications if at all significant would such design have on drag and lift?"
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Comment: Re:It's not property. (Score 3, Insightful) 525

by conlaw (#38970825) Attached to: RIAA Chief Whines That SOPA Opponents Were "Unfair"
IMHO, the important words in trout007's quotation from the Constitution are: "for limited Times." Once Congress passed the "Let's Protect Steamboat Willy while Pretending We're Doing Something for Sonny Bono Act," the time limitations for copyright protection became ludicrous. Unfortunately, a law that fails to make sense to ordinary individuals becomes virtually impossible to enforce without continually adding new and more draconian punishments. SOPA and PIPA were the Congressional equivalents of "those who laugh on the Sabbath day shall be confined to the Stocks for eight hours" and thus deserving of the reactions they induced.

Comment: Re:"Loaded and inflammatory" (Score 1) 525

by conlaw (#38969641) Attached to: RIAA Chief Whines That SOPA Opponents Were "Unfair"
Luckily, the Supremes of that era didn't accept that analogy. With current group on the bench, it's much better for individuals to block the law before it's enacted and some "person" like the RIAA figures out a way to get SCOTUS to come up with reasons why "piracy" should be punished by drawing and quartering.
Books

Accidental Empires To See Reboot, via the Internet-> 1

Submitted by shuttah
shuttah writes "Robert X. Cringely, author of the 1992 influential book Accidental Empires, will be republishing & updating (including pictures & new chapters) the now twenty year-old book via the launch of a new blog also by the author.

Cingeley tell us — "So next month I’ll be starting a second blog with its own URL just for Accidental Empires. I, Cringely will continue right here as ever (no changes at all), but on the book blog I will over several months publish — a chapter or so at a time — the entire 100,000-word book for the world to read, free of charge."

The book was also the basis for Cringley's 1996 TV miniseries "Triumph of the Nerds" released by PBS."
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Comment: Re:Always a niche (Score 1) 317

I agree. The current model is too many students listening to a teacher drone on with the same lecture notes and/or Power Point overheads that he/she has used for the last five or more years. IMHO, that method was obsolete when I was in school 30-40 years ago. However, too many the current teachers and administrators have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo ante, so I don't have much faith in it changing quickly.
The Matrix

Cyborg cockroaches turned into fuel cells->

Submitted by wdef
wdef writes "From TFA:

A team at Case Western Reserve University led by Michelle Rasmussen and Daniel Scherson has tapped into the metabolic system of a cockroach to produce electricity. This isn't the first time anyone has tried building a cyborg bug of sorts. A University of Michigan team tried it using piezoelectric materials. What's interesting here is that Rasmussen's group used the insect's own body chemistry to produce electricity.

The article also says shiitake mushrooms contain the same sugar as cockroaches and have also been used to produce electricity. Hopefully mushrooms and roaches alike will be able to exit the Matrix at some point."
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Airplane Window Seats Heighten Risk for Fatal Blood Clots

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "Travelers should opt for the aisle seat when on a long distant flight. While researchers have dispelled the myth of the “Economy Class Syndrome,” that sitting in the coach section of the plane during a long-haul flight increases the risk of developing a blood clot, health experts discovered that sitting in a window seat is indeed a risk factor for deep vein thrombosis.

New evidence showed that regardless of whether the passenger is in economy or first class, window seats elevates the risk for DVT, according to the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP)."

Of what you see in books, believe 75%. Of newspapers, believe 50%. And of TV news, believe 25% -- make that 5% if the anchorman wears a blazer.