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Comment: many early programmers were female (Score 1) 46

by peter303 (#45642003) Attached to: Google Doodle Remembers Computing Pioneer Grace Hopper
Before the late 1940s the word "computer" refered to clerks who computed mathematical tables (e.g. weapon trajectories) by hand or mechanical calculator. All these clerks were female and their bosses males. So when the first anlog and digital computers came along in the late 1940s, some of their clerks became their programmers. Programming was by rewiring switchboards or punch tape in those days. The electrical engineers and mathmaticians who built the hardware were mostly male. Soem of them migrated into software too.

Comment: which organization can go forward? (Score 1) 136

by peter303 (#45641971) Attached to: How China Will Get To the Moon Before a Google Lunar XPrize Winner
China has slow, steady well financed program. Private contests may have some hope. the US program suffereing death by a thousand small cuts. They manage to get two Mars probes funded this decade, otu several planned. JPL-NASA is talking about turning off Opportunity soon because they cannot financially afford to operate multiple Mars Rover due to sequester cuts. Curiosity has more powerful instruments and has less explored its area.

Comment: broadcast radio (Score 1) 368

by nurb432 (#45623627) Attached to: Get Ready For a Streaming Music Die-Off

Only works if you like popular music in your area. If you like something more alternative, or just from a different part of the country, local broadcast is rather inadequate.

Today we have this thing called the internet to be able to experience music unavailable locally. But it wasn't all that long ago where all you had was a few odd magazines like goldmine.

Science

Elsevier Going After Authors Sharing Their Own Papers 258

Posted by Soulskill
from the a-peer-reviewed-study-of-face-meeting-palm dept.
David Gerard writes "Elsevier, in final desperation mode, is going after authors sharing their own papers online. Academia.edu has told several researchers that Elsevier 'is currently upping the ante in its opposition to academics sharing their own papers online.' This is the sounds of a boycott biting."
China

First Images of a Heart Injected With Liquid Metal 115

Posted by Soulskill
from the that's-pretty-metal dept.
KentuckyFC writes "The early symptoms of many diseases show up first in the smallest blood vessels, but imaging the fine structure of these vessels is a tricky problem for medics. The most common way is to inject them with a contrast agent and use x-ray tomography to create a 3D image of their structure. This shows problems in the large vessels but not smaller ones. The problem is the lack of contrast. Conventional contrast agents are based on iodine, which has a high electron density and so better absorbs x-rays than other atoms. But a better solution would be to use a higher density fluid, such as a liquid metal. The obvious fears associated with toxicity and so forth mean this has never been tried. Until now. A team of Chinese biomedical engineers have created the world's first images of a pig's heart injected with gallium. This has a melting point of 29 degrees C, so it's a liquid at body temperature. And the results show the detailed structure of the tiniest blood vessels, revealing capillaries just 0.07 mm in diameter. That's significantly more detailed than is possible with iodine-based contrast agents. An important question is whether this technique will ever be possible in humans. The Chinese team seems optimistic. They say gallium is chemically inert, non-toxic to humans and can be injected and sucked out without leaving a residue. 'It suggests the possibility for localized in vivo vascular-enhanced radiological imaging in the near future.'"

"I'm growing older, but not up." -- Jimmy Buffett

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