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NASA

The Sun Unleashes Coronal Mass Ejection At Earth 220

Posted by Soulskill from the return-fire dept.
astroengine writes "Yesterday morning, at 08:55 UT, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory detected a C3-class flare erupt inside a sunspot cluster. 100,000 kilometers away, deep within the solar atmosphere (the corona), an extended magnetic field filled with cool plasma forming a dark ribbon across the face of the sun (a feature known as a 'filament') erupted at the exact same time. It seems very likely that both eruptions were connected after a powerful shock wave produced by the flare destabilized the filament, causing the eruption. A second solar observatory, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, then spotted a huge coronal mass ejection blast into space, straight in the direction of Earth. Solar physicists have calculated that this magnetic bubble filled with energetic particles should hit Earth on August 3, so look out for some intense aurorae — a solar storm is coming."

Comment Re:'Bout time (Score 1) 917

by pha7boy (#32932238) Attached to: Apple Offers Free Cases To Solve iPhone 4 Antenna Problems
you sir have no clue what you are talking about, do you? iPhone4 drops calls at a rate of (iphone3GS+1)/100 iPhone 3GS is also an Apple product Apple and ATT are, now, offering a 30 days full refund. If you bought it somewhere else (say... Best Buy) - good luck with that. Every phone does lose signal... to some extend. The iPhone4 is "Defective by Design" - meaning it makes the problem that much larger by placing the antena on the outside. so... I take it you're one of those "i don't care" people, huh? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL7yD-0pqZg&feature=player_embedded
Education

The "Scientific Impotence" Excuse 892

Posted by Soulskill from the happens-more-often-as-you-get-older dept.
chichilalescu writes "I've had the feeling for a long time that people refuse to listen to scientists. The following is from an article on Ars Technica: 'It's hardly a secret that large segments of the population choose not to accept scientific data because it conflicts with their predefined beliefs: economic, political, religious, or otherwise. But many studies have indicated that these same people aren't happy with viewing themselves as anti-science, which can create a state of cognitive dissonance. That has left psychologists pondering the methods that these people use to rationalize the conflict. A study published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology [abstract here] takes a look at one of these methods, which the authors term "scientific impotence" — the decision that science can't actually address the issue at hand properly.' The study found that 'regardless of whether the information presented confirmed or contradicted [the subjects'] existing beliefs, all of them came away from the reading with their beliefs strengthened."
The Military

USAF Scramjet Hits Mach 6, Sets Record 326

Posted by CmdrTaco from the get-where-yer-going dept.
s122604 writes "The [X-51A Waverider]'s scramjet engine accelerated the vehicle to Mach 6, and it flew autonomously for 200 seconds before losing acceleration. At that point the test was terminated. The Air Force said the previous record for a hypersonic scramjet burn was 12 seconds. Joe Vogel, Boeing's director of hypersonics, said, 'This is a new world record and sets the foundation for several hypersonic applications, including access to space, reconnaissance, strike, global reach and commercial transportation.'"
Space

Weird Exoplanet Orbits Could Screw Up Alien Life 161

Posted by CmdrTaco from the stupid-newton dept.
astroengine writes "Life is good in the Solar System. We have Jupiter to thank for that. However, if the gas giant's orbit were a little more elliptical, there's every chance that Earth would become rather uncomfortable very quickly. Researchers looking at the zoo of exoplanets orbiting distant stars have simulated several scenarios of differing exoplanet orbits and find that many don't resemble our cozy Solar System. In fact, weird exoplanet orbits may be the deciding factor as to whether extraterrestrial life can form or not."
Google

Google Rolls Out Encrypted Web Search Option 176

Posted by CmdrTaco from the step-in-the-right-direction dept.
KirinMercury writes "Google began offering an encrypted option for Web searchers on Friday and said it planned to roll it out for all of its services eventually. People who want to use the more secure search option can type 'https://www.google.com' into their browser, scrambling the connection so the words and phrases they search on, and the results that Google displays, will be protected from interception." Note that you need the 'www' for it to work. Dropping it redirects you to a non-ssl page. You might have read this on Saturday, but if you missed it, it's still worth knowing.
Image

Happy Towel Day 122

Posted by samzenpus from the wringing-out-the-wit dept.
An anonymous reader writes "While Douglas Adams continues his attempt to set a new record for the longest extended lunch break, geeks all over the universe pay tribute to the beloved author by celebrating the tenth edition of Towel Day. Towel Day is more alive than ever. This year Richard Dawkins, one of Adams' best friends, has tweeted a Towel Day reminder to his numerous followers. The CERN Bulletin has published an article on Towel Day. There has been TV coverage and there will be a radio interview. The Military Republic of the Deltan Imperium, a newly formed micronation, has recognized Towel Day as an official holiday. In Hungary several hundreds of hitchhiker fans want to have a picnic together in a park. And there's a concert, a free downloadable nerdrap album, a free game being released, the list goes on and on."

Comment Re:They've confused open source with public domain (Score 1) 80

by pha7boy (#32307116) Attached to: The Economist Calls For "Open Source" Biology
probably. but the point of the article in the economist is not open source vs public domain. It's whether a government should legislate the morality of synth-bio. And their point is that even if it should attempt to, any limitations on research should be minimal. The open source analogy is a little weak, but the idea is certainly commendable.
PC Games (Games)

What Game Devs Should Learn From EVE 270

Posted by Soulskill from the watch-out-for-volcanoes dept.
An anonymous reader passes along this excerpt from Gamesradar about EVE Online's Council of Stellar Management (CSM), a group of elected player representatives that serve to facilitate communications between the developers and the community: "On the last day, the devs announced that after the earlier discussions about improving the CSM’s ability to effect change, the CSM was being raised to the status of its own department within CCP. This is revolutionary; in one swift move, the CSM went from what could be considered a glorified focus group to what CCP considers to be a 'stakeholder' in the company, given equal consideration with every other department in requesting development time for a project. That means the CSM — and the entire playerbase it represents — has as much influence on development projects as Marketing, Accounting, Publicity and all the other teams outside of the development team. This is, of course, the stated intention. But has any developer gone to such lengths for its fans?"
Sci-Fi

Submission + - 'Riddick 3' is Somehow Being Made 1

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "Scott Harris writes on Moviefone that the economics of Hollywood are often baffling, as DVD sales, broadcast fees and merchandising tie-ins balance against advertising costs and pay-or-play deals to form an accounting maze. The latest example is the untitled sequel to the sci-fi stinkbomb 'Chronicles of Riddick' which as you may recall, was released back in 2004 to a slew of negative reviews and general viewer indifference. Despite its hefty $105 million budget, most of which was spent on special effects, the film topped out at a paltry $57 million domestically. So how can a sequel be made if the original lost money? The answer has to do with ancillary profits from revenue streams outside the box office. While the combined $116 million worldwide probably still didn't cover distribution and advertising costs, it likely brought the film close to even, meaning DVD sales and profits from the tie-in video game franchise may have put the movie in the black. In addition, 'Riddick' itself was a sequel to 'Pitch Black,' a modestly budgeted ($23 million) success back in 2000. Extending the franchise to a third film may help boost ancillary profits by introducing the 'Pitch Black' and 'Chronicles of Riddick' DVDs and merchandise to new audiences, meaning that the new film may not even need to break even to eventually turn a profit for the studio giving new hope to beleaguered fans of 'Howard the Duck' and 'The Island.'"

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