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Oyster Mushrooms Could Break Down Diapers in month-> 3

Submitted by greenerd
greenerd writes "Disposable diapers are one of the biggest contributors to overflowing landfills, piling up at a rate of 1 ton of trash per kid per year — and they take 500 years to decompose. But now, a scientist named Alethia Vázquez-Morillas from the Autonomous Metropolitan University in Mexico City has found a way to turn that 500-year span to a mere 4 months, by using oyster mushrooms to accelerate the breakdown."
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Censorship

US Citizen Arrested while in Thailand for Blog->

Submitted by societyofrobots
societyofrobots writes "A US citizen, upon visiting Thailand for medical treatment, was arrested for lese majeste (insulting the king) and computer crimes ("entering false information into a computer system"). He is charged for posting a link on his blog to a banned book, The King Never Smiles, and for translating excerpts of it. He made the posting four years ago in 2007, while in the US. Trials for lese majeste are traditionally held in secret, for reasons of 'national security'. AFP has more information."
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Science

Djedi Explores Secret Chambers in Great Pyramid

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes "CNN reports that the Djedi robot explorer has discovered ancient markings inside a secret chamber in Egypt's Great Pyramid of Giza which have lain unseen for 4,500 years. The markings take the form of hieroglyphic symbols in red paint as well as lines in the stone that may have been made by masons when the chamber was being built. "The big question is the purpose of these tunnels," says Peter Der Manuelian, Professor of Egyptology at Harvard University. "There are architectural explanations, symbolic explanations, religious explanations — even ones relating to the alignment of the stars — but the final word on them is yet to be written. The challenge is that no human can fit inside these channels so the only way to do this exploration is with robots." The robot explorer that took the images is named Djedi, after the magician whom Pharaoh Khufu consulted when planning the layout of the Great Pyramid and was designed and built by engineers at the University of Leeds, in collaboration with Scoutek UK and Dassault Systemes, France. To reach the secret chamber Djedi had to climb 213 feet up an 8-inch shaft in the heart of the pyramid where the robot came to a stop in front of a mysterious limestone slab adorned with two copper pins. "I dedicated my whole life to study the secrets of the Great Pyramid," says Zahi Hawass, Egypt's Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs. "My goal is to finally find out what’s behind these secret doors.""

Was LinkedIn Scammed?->

Submitted by chriscappuccio
chriscappuccio writes "If there’s one thing we’ve all learned in the aftermath of the financial crisis, it’s that stiffing your client is not a crime. Not if you’re an investment bank.

Suppose, he wrote, your trusted real estate agent persuaded you to sell your house for $1 million. Then, the next day, the same agent sold the same house for the new owner for $2 million. “How would you feel if your agent did that?” he asked. That, he concluded, is what Merrill and Morgan did to LinkedIn."
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Moon

Is Apollo Still a Valid Model to Explore Space 50 -> 1

Submitted by
MarkWhittington
MarkWhittington writes "Fifty years ago, President John F. Kennedy stood before a joint session of Congress and proclaimed a goal of landing a man on the Moon and returning him to the Earth “before this decade is out.” Eight years later the goal was accomplished. Since then, two presidents, both named George Bush, have tried to set similar space exploration goals; both times the proposals fell victim to the vicissitudes of politics. How is it that President Kennedy’s proposal succeeded and the other two failed? Was Apollo unique for its time? Or was there another reason?"
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