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Robotics

Submission + - CBC promises lots more robots in our future

Submitted by
grouchyDude
grouchyDude writes: "CBC, the Canadian Broadcasting Company, has a feature on consumer robots on their on-line edition today. It includes articles discussing the destiny and state of consumer robotics, as well as the need for investment in robotics research and the robotics industry to stay in competition. Their listing of both consumer robots and fictional robots is quite incomplete, but they get to most of the important ideas and issues in the multiple parts of the feature. It also covers bit on robot lore (i.e. notable robots from fiction) as well as a popular robotics quiz."
Biotech

Submission + - Searching for The World's Tallest Trees with LIDAR

Submitted by SoyChemist
SoyChemist writes: The Save-the-Redwoods League is leading an effort to map all of Redwood National Park with light detection and ranging equipment. LIDAR simultaneously creates a 3D "point file" of the forest floor and canopy. Calculating tree heights is a simple matter of subtraction. Among other things, the maps will be used to locate immense redwood trees. Hyperion, the tallest known tree in the world, stands 378.1 feet tall and was recently discovered in that same park. The conservationists believe that they will find even taller trees. Wired is running a story that includes pictures and details about the twin-engine 1968 Aero Commander and the LIDAR equipment. Perhaps the coolest thing about this is that all of the map data will be released into the public domain.
Space

Submission + - Sun explosion: emission from gas at 1M degrees (blogspot.com)

Submitted by
Wrik
Wrik writes: "A gorgeous picture (90 degrees rotation, North is to the left) shows a red hot filament lifting off from the Sun's surface. At it's peak, this growing structure measures approximately 75 thousand miles."
Quickies

Submission + - Source of Ancient Egypt's Gold Discovered? (livescience.com)

Submitted by TheProspector
TheProspector writes: Archaeologists at Chicago's Oriental Institute have discovered what seems to be an ancient gold-processing and panning camp along the Nile River. It is thought to have been operated by the Kushites, and to have been the source of ancient Egypt's gold.
Media

Submission + - SciTalks - The YouTube for Science Geeks (zeropaid.com)

Submitted by
Jared
Jared writes: "Billed as the "YouTube for Geeks," the YouTube-style site offers streaming science lectures. Segments range from a series of hour-long lectures by the late Richard Feynman, to a short, hilarious Ali G interview with Noam Chomsky, and a fascinating talk on designing a semiconductor-based brain, by up-and-coming Stanford researcher Kwabena Boahen. Users can also submit links to additional lectures to be listed on the site, search for upcoming science conferences, and even upload their own video content. "It's like crack for science geeks," says founder Lee Vodra.
http://www.zeropaid.com/news/8856/YouTube+for+Geek s+-+'SciTalks'+launches%2C+offers+streaming+scienc e+lectures"
Music

Submission + - Pandora.com no longer supports foreigners

Submitted by skogula
skogula writes: Anyone who does not live in the United States, no longer has access to the pandora.com music service. Instead, everyone is re-directed to http://www.pandora.com/restricted which gives the following text Dear Pandora Visitor, We are deeply, deeply sorry to say that due to licensing constraints, we can no longer allow access to Pandora for most listeners located outside of the U.S. We will continue to work diligently to realize the vision of a truly global Pandora, but for the time being we are required to restrict its use. We are very sad to have to do this, but there is no other alternative. We believe that you are in Canada (your IP address appears to be 216.211.58.109). If you believe we have made a mistake, we apologize and ask that you please contact us at pandora-support@pandora.com If you are a paid subscriber, please contact us at pandora-support@pandora.com and we will issue a pro-rated refund to the credit card you used to sign up. If you have been using Pandora, we will keep a record of your existing stations and bookmarked artists and songs, so that when we are able to launch in your country, they will be waiting for you. We will be notifying listeners as licensing agreements are established in individual countries. If you would like to be notified by email when Pandora is available in your country, please enter your email address below. The pace of global licensing is hard to predict, but we have the ultimate goal of being able to offer our service everywhere. We share your disappointment and greatly appreciate your understanding. Sincerely, Tim Westergren Founder
First Person Shooters (Games)

Submission + - what can a gamer do to resist Vista?

Submitted by
DragonTHC
DragonTHC writes: "I've been a gamer since 1985. I'm also a huge fan of Shadowrun as a pencil and paper RPG. Following the news that Shadowrun is going to be Vista only, and Pay for play, what can a gamer do to resist Vista? With the new "Games for Windows" program, which is just a way to force users to pay a subscription fee to play online, and since the game isn't even DX10, why should I upgrade to Vista so I can play it? Why should I pay for alky so I can play it on XP?"
Space

Wreck of Australian Warship HMAS Sydney Found? 193

Posted by kdawson from the frieght-and-salvage dept.
Mendy writes "Tim Ankers, a British archaeologist, claims to have found the wreck of the HMAS Sydney, lost with all hands in the Indian Ocean during World War II. He says that he's done this from the comfort of his home using software he wrote called Merlindown, which can analyze satellite photographs at different wavelengths to 'peer 75 meters into the earth and 16,000 meters beneath the seas.'"
The Media

Submission + - The Unravelling of the Global Warming Crisis

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: The United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and hundreds of government agencies and environmental groups around the world claim that the science is settled and the time for debate is over. But the list of distinguished scientists who question the IPCC grows daily.
NASA

Submission + - Shuttle Workers Vote to Strike (orlandosentinel.com)

Submitted by
stoolpigeon
stoolpigeon writes: "A union representing 570 space shuttle program workers at the Kennedy Space Center voted to strike Saturday, less than a week before the planned launch of the shuttle Atlantis. The International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers, which represents the United Space Alliance employees, rejected the company's contract offer Saturday morning, Florida Today reported. The union could strike as early as June 9, a day after NASA officials plan to launch Atlantis. It was unclear Saturday whether the vote to strike could affect the launch schedule."
Microsoft

Some Journals Rejecting Office 2007 Format 474

Posted by kdawson from the embrace-extend-extinguish-yourself dept.
hormiga writes "Some scholarly journals are rejecting submissions made using new Office 2007 formats. Science and Nature are among publishers unwilling to deal with incompatibilities in the new formats, and recommend using older versions of Office or converting to older formats before submission. The new equation editor is cited as a specific problem. Rob Wier recommends that those publishers consider using ODF instead."
Math

Boys with Longer Ring Fingers are Better at Math 322

Posted by CowboyNeal from the don't-ask-how-we-know dept.
slashthedot writes "While it is well known that boys have longer ring fingers as compared to index fingers, now some researchers say that the longer the ring finger ratio to index finger, the better boys are at math. In girls, the shorter the ring finger to index finger ratio, the better is their verbal skills. 'The link, according to the researchers, is that testosterone levels in the womb influence both finger length and brain development.'"
Education

The Birth of Spinplasmonics 34

Posted by CowboyNeal from the making-heads-spin dept.
Roland Piquepaille writes "You might have heard of spintronics, a technology that uses the magnetic quantum properties of the spin of electrons, or plasmonics, another one which 'involves the transfer of light electromagnetic energy into a tiny volume, thus creating intense electric fields.' Now, researchers at the University of Alberta (U of A) have merged these two nascent research fields to create a new nanotechnology field called spinplasmonics. According to the researchers, this new technology, which was already used to control the quantum state of an electron's spin to switch a beam of terahertz light, could one day be the basis for 'computers with extraordinary capacities.'"

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