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Submission Summary: 0 pending, 66 declined, 20 accepted (86 total, 23.26% accepted)

Submission + - Fuel cell breakthrough

mcgrew writes: Surfing through Google news I ran across something I found interesting: a new type of fuel cell that is 90% less costly than current cells, one tenth the size (the size of a dishwasher) and far higher efficiency than current cells, and at only 149 degrees Celsius (300F) . It was jointly developed by Diverse Energy and the University of Maryland.

It produces enough power to run a large supermarket, or five homes. A smaller, home-sized unit is on the way. Is the municipal power plant on the way out?

Submission + - Occupy Flash? (cnn.com)

mcgrew writes: "I don't know why I haven't seen this at slashdot, but CNN is reporting another Occupy movement — Occupy Flash. Their aim: get rid of Flash completely.

In response, a group of Flash developers have started Occupy HTML in Flash's defense.

Popcorn, anyone?"

Space

Submission + - Marooned Off Vesta (yahoo.com)

mcgrew writes: "From the AP:

After four years sailing through space, the Dawn spacecraft was expected to slip into orbit late Friday around a giant asteroid to begin a yearlong investigation into the origins of the solar system. It is the first of two scheduled tour stops for the NASA probe that almost never made it to the launch pad. Because of its stunted growth, Vesta holds "a record of the earliest history of the solar system," said the mission's lead scientist Christopher Russell of the University of California, Los Angeles.

The submission's title is a nod to Isaac Asimov. Lets hope Dawn doesn't get marooned!"

Submission + - Don't fly if you just had surgery!

mcgrew writes: "The Chigago Tribune is reporting that the TSA is now worried about surgically implanted bombs.

Are they trying to get everyone to stop flying entirely? I know there's no way they'd get me in an airliner these days. I'll drive, even though it is far, far more dangerous."

Idle

Submission + - We're All Mutants (livescience.com) 1

mcgrew writes: "My daughter Patty, who was born with only one kidney, isn't alone — Live Science reports that the average human has sixty genetic mutations. Without those mutations there would be no evolution."
Science

Submission + - Seismologists Tried for Manslaughter for Not Predi (livescience.com)

mcgrew writes: "From LiveScience:

Earthquake prediction can be a grave, and faulty science, and in the case of Italian seismologists who are being tried for the manslaughter of the people who died in the 2009 L'Aquila quake, it can have legal consequences. The group of seven, including six seismologists and a government official, reportedly didn't alert the public ahead of time of the risk of the L'Aquila earthquake, which occurred on April 6 of that year, killing around 300 people, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

"

Sony

Submission + - Phishing site discovered on Sony servers (msn.com)

mcgrew writes: An MSNBC article by Rosa Golijan says that a Sony site is phishing — or trying to. Modern browsers warn that it's phishing, and actually hitting the link gives a 404. But as Golijan says, "Sony's just not catching any breaks lately".

Why should they?

Education

Submission + - Why geeks make better adults than the in-crowd (yahoo.com)

mcgrew writes: "From Yahoo News:

In good news for nerds everywhere, what makes people unpopular in the hallways of high school, mainly an unwillingness to conform, tends to translate into success as an adult. Robbins lists several companies—including Yahoo!—that prioritize hiring quirky individuals who shun conventional thinking. She also name-checks historical and current celebrities, including director Steven Spielberg (who was taunted for being Jewish in high school) and Lady Gaga (a self-described former theater "freak"), whose weirdness led to later fame. (Other now-validated former outsiders she touts: Steve Jobs, Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen and Angelina Jolie.)

More at the link."

Medicine

Submission + - The longer you sit, the earlier you die

mcgrew writes: Bad news or most of us here — The Chicago Tribune is reporting that even if you get plenty of exersize, sitting down all day reduces your lifespan. From the article:

Even after adjusting for body mass index (BMI) and smoking, the researchers found that women who sit more than 6 hours a day were 37 percent more likely to die than those who sit less than 3 hours; for men, long-sitters were 17 percent more likely to die.

People who exercise regularly had a lower risk, but still significant, risk of dying. Those who sat a lot and moved less than three and a half hours per day are the most likely to die early: researchers found a 94 percent increased risk for women and 48 percent increase for men, they announced recently in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Medicine

Submission + - Stem Cells curing blindness

mcgrew writes: The AP (via Yahoo) is reporting that the Italians can now cure blindness caused by chemical burns using the patient's own stem cells. Previously, this kind of injury needed either a corneal transplant or stem cells from someone else, both of which are plagued by problems with tisue rejection.

Unfortunately, this only works for damaged corneas — so far.
Transportation

Submission + - Steam-powered car breaks century-old speed record

mcgrew writes: "New Scientist reports that a stem powered car has broken the 1906 record of 204 km/hr (127 mph) for the fastest steam powered automobile, the Stanley Steamer. The Inspiration made a top speed of 225 kilometres per hour (140 miles per hour) on August 26.

The car's engine burns liquid petroleum gas to heat water in 12 suitcase-sized boilers, creating steam heated to 400C. The steam then drives a two-stage turbine that spins at 13,000 revolutions per minute to power its wheels.

The FIA requires two 1.6-km-long runs to be performed in opposite directions — to cancel out any effect from wind — within 60 minutes.

"
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - LHC to start in November - at half power

mcgrew writes: "New Scientist says

The world's most powerful particle smasher will restart in November at just half the energy the machine was designed to reach. But even at this level, the Large Hadron Collider has the potential to uncover exotic new physics, such as signs of hidden extra dimensions, physicists say.

No, the earth won't be swallowed by a mini black hole."

Biotech

Submission + - "Schitzophrenia gene" linked to creativity

mcgrew writes: "New Scientist is reporting that creativity is linked to a gene that has also been linked to schitzophrenia. Szabolcs Kéri, a researcher at Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary, carried a study of creative people.

Kéri examined a gene involved in brain development called neuregulin 1, which previous studies have linked to a slightly increased risk of schizophrenia. Moreover, a single DNA letter mutation that affects how much of the neuregulin 1 protein is made in the brain has been linked to psychosis, poor memory and sensitivity to criticism. About 50 per cent of healthy Europeans have one copy of this mutation, while 15 per cent possess two copies

People with two copies of the neuregulin 1 mutation — about 12 per cent of the study participants — tended to score notably higher on these measures of creativity, compared with other volunteers with one or no copy of the mutation. Those with one copy were also judged to be more creative, on average, than volunteers without the mutation.

They hypothesize that people with this gene with high IQs are creative, while those with lower IQs are simply prone to the hallucinations that characterize the disease."

Enlightenment

Submission + - 123456789 happens today 1

mcgrew writes: "The Chicago Tribune is pointing out that shortly after noon today, the time and date will be 12:34:56 7/8/9. The Trib points out that this happens only once or twice per century, although it actually happens twice on the day it happens in.

serious Cubs fans know the first night game at Wrigley Field was played on 8/8/88 — which just happens to be four sideways infinity symbols.

I imagine you can make any day "special" like this if you try hard enough."

The Courts

Submission + - Tennesee man charged in 'virtual pornography' case

mcgrew writes: "CNN reports that "A Tennessee man is facing charges of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor for what authorities say are three pictures — none of them featuring an actual child's body.

Instead, according to testimony presented at Michael Wayne Campbell's preliminary hearing in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Wednesday, the photos feature the faces of three young girls placed on the nude bodies of adult females, CNN affiliate WDEF reported."

I'm not sure what to think of this..."

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