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GNOME

Garden Gnome Tests Earth's Gravity 144

Posted by samzenpus from the he's-not-heavy dept.
sciencehabit writes "Researchers have long hypothesized that objects weigh less at Earth's equator because the planet's spin and shape lessen gravity's pull there versus at the poles. Satellite accelerometers have confirmed this, but a digital scale manufacturer decided to test things the old-fashioned way. Enter the Kern garden gnome. When placed on a scale at the South Pole, the intrepid ornament weighed 309.82 grams versus 307.86 grams at the equator, a difference of 0.6%."

Comment Re:Hmmm... ZnO band gap is 3.37 eV (Score 1) 56

by spribyl (#39308821) Attached to: Nanowire Forests Use Sunlight To Split Water

What if they used co2 and h2o, or with some adjustment just h2o. Could this be used to build hydrocarbons? My physics and chemistry failed math.

You have all the bits to make them and there seems to be a "simple" way of collecting energy.
There are two ideas here. Hydrocarbons from nano-tubes and water or co2 and h2o processed via a nano tube catalyst.
My guess is the required pressure and or reaction time will be to high to be practical.
Joke: Gas from soda-water and a straw.
Education

Hackers To School Next Generation At DEFCON Kids 86

Posted by Soulskill from the first-sploit-is-free dept.
fangmcgee writes "DEFCON hackers will share their skills with the next generation at a first-ever children's version of the infamous gathering of software renegades, lock pickers and social engineers. A hacker conference for children is controversial even in the DEFCON community. Prime targets for criticism include lock picking and social engineering, the art of manipulating people into revealing sensitive information. 'Everyone is up in arms that we are going to teach kids to be evil, but that is not the case,' said Chris Hadnagy, who trains companies to guard against slick-talking hackers and runs the website social-engineer.org. 'Think critically, think objectively — that is what this industry teaches people,' continued Hadnagy, a DEFCON Kids mentor. "

Comment More reasearch (Score 1) 890

by spribyl (#34331212) Attached to: Next Step For US Body Scanners Could Be Trains, Metro Systems

says Napolitano. 'I think having a better understanding of what causes someone to become a terrorist will be helpful.'"

You mean other then having nothing else to loose. They don't hate us or our freedom but they do hate when they have nothing to care about. Fastest way to create a terrorist is to take away rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The three letter acronyms will fail as they squeeze tighter. Fastest way to defeat a terrorist is to give him a real job or business to support loved ones with out interference from corruption.
Cellphones

Cell Phone Interception At Def Con 95

Posted by Soulskill from the can-i-hear-you-now dept.
ChrisPaget writes "I'm planning a pretty significant demonstration of GSM insecurity at Defcon next week, where I'll intercept and record cellular calls made by my attendees, live on-stage, no user-input required. As you can imagine, intercepting cellphones is a Very Big Deal in the eyes of the law; this blog post is an attempt to reassure everyone that their privacy is being taken seriously despite the nature of the demo. I'm not just making it up either — the EFF have helped significantly with the details."
Image

Southwest Adds 'Mechanical Difficulties' To Act Of God List 223

Posted by samzenpus from the blameless-travel dept.
War, earthquakes, and broken washers are all unavoidable events for which a carrier should not be liable if travel is delayed according to Southwest Airlines. Southwest quietly updated their act of God list a few weeks ago to include mechanical problems with the other horrors of an angry travel god. From the article: "Robert Mann, an airline industry analyst based in Port Washington, NY, called it 'surprising' that Southwest, which has a reputation for stellar customer service, would make a change that puts passengers at a legal disadvantage if an aircraft breakdown delays their travel. Keeping a fleet mechanically sound 'is certainly within the control of any airline,' Mann said. 'Putting mechanical issues in the same category as an act of God — I don't think that's what God intended.'"
Crime

Mom Arrested After Son Makes Dry Ice "Bombs" 571

Posted by samzenpus from the mr.-terrorist-wizard dept.
formfeed writes "Police were called to a house in Omaha where a 14-year-old made some 'dry ice bombs' (dry ice in soda bottles). Since his mom knew about it, she is now facing felony charges for child endangment and possession of a destructive device. From the article: 'Assistant Douglas County Attorney Eric Wells said the boy admitted to making the bomb and that his mother knew he was doing so. The boy was set to appear Tuesday afternoon in juvenile court, accused of possessing a destructive device.'" She's lucky they didn't find the baking soda volcano in the basement.
Image

Building a Homemade Nuclear Reactor In NYC 219

Posted by samzenpus from the extreme-diy dept.
yukk writes "Mark Suppes, a web developer for Gucci, is working on his own personal fusion reactor. His work in a NYC warehouse using $35,000 of his own money and $4,000 raised on a website has made him the 38th independent researcher recognized as creating a working fusion reactor. How's that for a hobby?"
Canada

Alberta Scientists Discover Largest-Ever Cache of Dinosaur Bones 154

Posted by Soulskill from the dino-mother-lode dept.
Cryolithic writes "The largest cache of dinosaur bones ever found has been unearthed in Alberta. From the article: '... officials at the Royal Tyrrell Museum say the Hilda site provides the first solid evidence that some horned dinosaur herds were much larger than previously thought, with numbers comfortably in the high hundreds to low thousands. ... Rather than picturing the animals as drowning while crossing a river, a classic scenario that has been used to explain bonebed occurrences at many sites in Alberta, the research team interpreted the vast coastal landscape as being submerged during tropical storms or hurricanes. With no high ground to escape to, most of the members of the herd drowned in the rising coastal waters. Carcasses were deposited in clumps across kilometers of ancient landscape as floodwaters receded.'"

Comment Re:Where do you get "savage punishment"??? (Score 1) 452

by spribyl (#32502132) Attached to: America Versus the UFO Hacker

> Aspergers doesn't change your ability to understand legal vs illegal acts.

This is not entirely true. Aspergers/Autistic spectrum disorder can affect the way you perceive and react to the world. On of Aspergers hallmarks is poor understanding and perception of what is right and wrong both socially and as a sub set the law(as a social contract). I don't now the particulars of this persons diagnosis but it is certainly within the realm of possibilities.

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