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Science

Submission + - Level Rises after TEPCO Pumps Out Radioacti (kyodonews.jp)

Submitted by DrJimbo
DrJimbo writes: Kyodo News is reporting that the water level in the tunnel near the turbine building for reactor No. 2 rose 4.5 cm and is now only 1.5 cm lower than it was before they pumped out 600 tons of highly radioactive water. A NISA spokesman said 'As there is believed to be around 20,000 tons of water (in the No. 2 reactor turbine building and the trench connected to it), we're feeling the difficulty of lowering the level of the water in a stable manner.' They want to pump out the tunnels before the turbine buildings to prevent more water from leaking into the ocean. The water in the No. 2 turbine building and tunnel is ten times more radioactive than the water in turbine building No. 3 that burned three workers.

Submission + - Another photovoltaic record (businesswire.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In the world of photovoltaics, fights break out over fractions of a percent improvement. And there's usually a gap between "hero device" lab results and manufacturable devices. But now a small startup called Solar Junction has reached 43.5%, confirmed by the National Renewable Energy Lab. This beats the old record by a full 1.2%. It's grown on a on a high volume manufacturing system, too... or at least high volume for the world of CPV.
Blackberry

Submission + - BlackBerry Playbook Impressive, But Unfinished (ibtimes.com)

Submitted by RedEaredSlider
RedEaredSlider writes: With the release of Research In Motion's BlackBerry PlayBook tablet less than a week away, early reviews say the PlayBook is, while physically impressive, clearly unfinished. But RIM isn't the only company to ship a tablet that feels like it could use more time in the shop.

The PlayBook lacks a number of seemingly essential features common to competitors, including a native web browser, email client, significant app support, and, (inexplicably) its own BlackBerry messenger. While RIM makes much of that missing functionally available via BlackBerry Bridge, the lack of built-in support for the features is, as one reviewer put it, absurd.

But all of that underscores something common to many device makers. They are all, at launch, unfinished, awaiting upgrades that often come months later.

Submission + - Solar power without solar cells: A hidden magnetic (physorg.com)

Submitted by jIyajbe
jIyajbe writes: A dramatic and surprising magnetic effect of light discovered by University of Michigan researchers could lead to solar power without traditional semiconductor-based solar cells.

The researchers found a way to make an “optical battery,” said Stephen Rand, a professor in the departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Physics and Applied Physics. In the process, they overturned a century-old tenet of physics.

“You could stare at the equations of motion all day and you will not see this possibility. We’ve all been taught that this doesn’t happen,” said Rand.
Space

Submission + - SpaceShipTwo Opens New Terminal 2 at SFO

Submitted by Kozar_The_Malignant
Kozar_The_Malignant writes: The new Terminal 2 at San Francisco International Airport was opened today with the arrival of SpaceShipTwo (firmly attached to WhiteKnightTwo). Good photos and article by Dean Putney on BoingBoing. I'm ready to go.

Comment Re:...liabilities (Score 2) 431

by arun84h (#35702660) Attached to: StunRay Incapacitates With a Flash of Light

...and what about the "liabilities" that come with using lethal force (aka your sidearm) to incapacitate a criminal? Isn't this much better than say, firing off a round into someones leg?

The only thing that worries me is what the target may do when all of a sudden he's disoriented. What if his gun is drawn at the officers (or civilians) when he's disabled? TFA says most victims "freeze", but I don't see how inverse-of-blinding light would make your entire body stop working. What if the victim starts blindly firing his weapon?

Comment Re:Will it leak? (Score 1) 178

by arun84h (#35523824) Attached to: Paramount Pictures To Release Film On Bittorrent

Isn't the whole intellectual property debate about whether it's right or wrong to share an idea? Wouldn't "The_Tunnel_2011" be the same IP as "SUPER_L33T_THE_TUNNEL_2011", as long as the file wasn't altered?

I was under the impression that the file itself wasn't the underlying issue. I don't think you can call one .torrent file "legitimate" while calling another that points to the SAME file "illegitimate".
Hardware

Submission + - Harvard Professor Creates Paper Accelerometer (ieee.org)

Submitted by SuperSlacker64
SuperSlacker64 writes: In an age where just about everything starts going digital, its refreshing to see someone going back to our roots: paper. Well, sort of. Researchers at Harvard have created a cheap, dime sized, paper based accelerometer that they believe could be used in various applications, specifically cheap medical testing. The device works because a carbon bridge stretches and changes resistivity as the device is accelerated.
Music

Submission + - Music using floppy drives / disks (youtube.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Can't say I've seen many things that are more geeky than this: 4 floppy drives on a computer playing Toccata & Fugue based on MIDI input. It's a YouTube only video at the moment, but due to great response, the author is going to create a website detailing how he got it to work. People do say that computer-minded people have good affinity with music...

Submission + - FDA to test brain-controlled prosthetic arm

Submitted by mcgrew
mcgrew writes: The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the FDA is testing a new cybernetic prosthetic arm that is directly controlled by the user's brain. "The arm system, developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, uses a microchip implanted in the brain to record and decode signals to neurons that control muscles linked to the prosthesis."
Businesses

Submission + - JC Penney Responds To SEO Controversy

Submitted by adeelarshad82
adeelarshad82 writes: Over the weekend the New York Times published a damning expose of how JC Penney allegedly gamed Google's page-ranking algorithm, which artificially made the retailer a top search result. In an email to PCMag, JC Penny's vice-president of corporate communications, Darcie Brossart, fired back saying that "The characterization of JC Penney in the New York Times article is misleading and unwarranted." Also adding that JCPenny has no record of receiving a violation notification from Google.

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