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Comment A Note on Placement (Score 1) 14

by schrodingers_rabbit (#30267154) Attached to: Missing Boy With Asperger's Spent 11 Days Living in Subway
As amusing as this story must be to the greater nerd community, it's categorization is questionable. I speak from experience in saying that challenges faced by those with Asperger's are hardly a laughing matter- or an idle concern. Despite the humor inherent in mental disorder, laughing at the struggles of a boy painfully isolated from the world is cruel.

Comment Other Uses (Score 3, Interesting) 116

by schrodingers_rabbit (#28270101) Attached to: GPS Shoes For Alzheimer's Patients
It would be helpful for the patient to be able to use the shoe GPS themselves. My relatives with Alzheimers often forget where they are or where they are going, or how to get there. A small screen similar to car GPS systems could use the shoe to help the patients find their way around. On a different note, where can I get one of these for my sister?
Math

String Theory Predicts Behavior of Superfluids 348

Posted by kdawson from the good-for-something dept.
schrodingers_rabbit writes "Despite formidable odds, condensed matter physicists have made a breakthrough most thought impossible — finding a practical use for string theory. The initial breakthrough was made by physicist and cosmologist Juan Maldacena. His theory states that the known universe is only a 2D construct in anti-de-Sitter space, projected into 3 dimensions. This theory manages to model black holes and quantum theory congruently, a feat that has eluded scientists for decades; but it fails to correspond to the shape of space-time in the known universe. However, it does predict thermodynamic properties of black holes, including higher-dimensional viscosity — the equations for which elegantly and almost exactly calculate the behavior of quark-gluon plasma and other superfluids. According to Jan Zaanen at the University of Leiden, 'The theory is calculating precisely what we are seeing in experiments.' Unfortunately, the correspondence cannot prove or disprove string theory, although it is a positive step." Not an easy path to follow: one condensed matter theorist said, "It took two years and two 1000-page books of dense mathematics, but I learned string theory and got kind of enchanted by it. [When the string-theory related] thing began to... make predictions about high-temperature superconductors, my traditional mainstay, I was one of the few condensed matter physicists with the preparation to take it up."
Math

Submission + - String Theory Predicts Behavior of Superfluids (newscientist.com)

Submitted by
schrodingers_rabbit
schrodingers_rabbit writes: "Despite formidable odds, condensed matter physicists have made a breakthrough most thought impossible- finding a practical use for string theory. The initial breakthrough was made by physicist and cosmologist Juan Maldacena. His theory states that the known universe is only a 2D construct in anti-de-Sitter space, projected into 3 dimensions. This theory manages to model black holes and quantum theory congruently, a feat that bas eluded scientists for decades, but fails to correspond to the shape of space-time in the know universe. However, it does predict thermodynamic properties of black holes, including higher-dimensional viscosity- the equations for which almost exactly calculate the behavior of quark-gluon plasma and other super fluids. According to Jan Zaanen at the University of Leiden, "The theory is calculating precisely what we are seeing in experiments." Unfortunately, the correspondence cannot prove or disprove String Theory, although it is a positive step. Another aspect of the theory has been entirely overlooked. Despite the myriad licensing opportunities for a physical prediction of the closest thing physics has to a quasi-religion, the only spinoff created so far is a spoofed Macarena in honor of Maldacena's theory."

Comment Old News (Score 0) 156

by schrodingers_rabbit (#28203693) Attached to: Device Reads Messages From Surface of the Brain
Technology the already exists, and has for a relatively long time, can be used to let some paralyzed patients communicate through computers. The subject of one study by Brown University and Massachussets General Hospital in 2006, Matthew Nagle, preformed all the functions listed in the article. I'm waiting for the mind-control implants
... for the world is hollow and...brZAP...I...ZAP....give up....

Comment When will (Score 2, Interesting) 165

by schrodingers_rabbit (#28191275) Attached to: Research Vehicle Reaches the Bottom of the Ocean
submersibles actually manage to stay at the bottom of the trench for extended lengths of time? Short visits can only tell scientists so much about ordinary conditions. A permanent unmaned observation station could record a much larger data sample. Now all that's left to do is develop technologies that can withstand the pressure and power themselves of sulphur-feeding clamlike tube creatures.

Comment Re:...or maybe (Score 0) 588

by schrodingers_rabbit (#28190015) Attached to: The Myth of the Mathematics Gender Gap
According to an article in Education Resources Information Center (ED445192), there is no difference in career preference between men and women. Additionaly, a New York Times article hosted on the Stanford University website found no difference in the performance of men and women in a mathematical competitions. Furthermore, many females I know, including myself, wish to pursue a career in science or math. However, I would be happy to see your statistics.
Hardware Hacking

Making a Child Locating System 1092

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the just-contact-a-local-fish-and-wildlife-officer-for-radio-tagging dept.
celtic_hackr writes "Well, I never thought I'd be an advocate for placing GPS devices on people. However, since it took less than three days for my local school district to misplace my daughter, I have decided that something needs to be done. By the school district's own admission it has a recurring problem of placing children on the wrong buses. Fortunately, my daughter was located, with no thanks to the local school district. Therefore, I would like input on a way to be able to keep track of my child. I know there are personal tracking devices out there. I have nothing against these systems. But I want more than this. My specification are: 1) a small unobtrusive device I can place on my daughter, 2) an application to pull up on any computer, a map with a dot indicating the real-time position of my child, 3) a handheld device with the equivalent information, 4) [optional] a secure web application/plug-in I can install on my own domain allowing me to track her from anyplace in the world, 5) a means of turning it all off, 6) a Linux based solution of the above. I believe all the pieces for making such a system are out there. Has anyone built anything like this? Is there an open source solution? How would I go about building my own? Has anyone hacked any of these personal trackers before, to serve their own purposes? How does a tinfoil hat wearer engineer such a device to make sure Big-Brother isn't watching too? Can these devices be locked down so only certain devices can pick up the GPS location of an individual locator? What other recommendations do you have?"
Media

CoS Bigwig Likens Wikipedia Ban to Nazis' Yellow Star Decree 567

Posted by timothy from the stable-sane-leadership-cuckoo-cuckoo dept.
We mentioned on Thursday that Wikipedia has banned edits originating from certain IP addresses belonging to the Church of Scientology; reader newtley writes now that Scientology leader (CEO and Chairman of the Board of the linked, but legally separate, Religious Technology Center) David Miscavige calls the ban "a 'despicable hate crime,' and asks, 'What's next, will Scientologists have to wear yellow, six-pointed stars on our clothing?' During World War II, Hitler forced Jewish men, women and children to wear a a yellow cloth star bearing the word Jude to brand them in the streets of Europe, and in the Nazi death camps."

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