stevesliva - Slashdot User

Submission + - A Case Against The Hydrogen Economy

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 09, 2007 @11:18AM

An anonymous reader writes: Robert Zubrin, of The New Atlantis, argues against the idea of basing the US energy policy on hydrogen. His argument, explained through economics and physics, explains why using hydrogen for energy is a bad idea.

An excerpt from the article:

So if we put aside the spectacularly improbable prospect of fueling our planet with extraterrestrial hydrogen imports, the only way to get free hydrogen on Earth is to make it. The trouble is that making hydrogen requires more energy than the hydrogen so produced can provide. Hydrogen, therefore, is not a source of energy. It simply is a carrier of energy. And it is, as we shall see, an extremely poor one.

The article is located here.

Submission + - Fudgeripple Composite May Replace Depleted Uranium

Submitted by JuStMe on Wednesday January 31, 2007 @12:32PM

JuStMe writes: Armor-piercing projectiles made of depleted uranium have caused concern among soldiers storing and using them. Federal scientists now say they have developed an environmentally safe composite with an internal structure resembling fudge-ripple ice cream that actually does the job even better.

Submission + - Congress Hears From Muzzled Scientists

Submitted by BendingSpoons on Wednesday January 31, 2007 @12:20PM

BendingSpoons writes: More than 120 scientists across seven federal agencies have been pressured to remove the phrases "global warming" and "climate change" from various documents. The documents include press releases and, more importantly, communications with congress. Evidence of this sort of political interference has been largely annecdotal to date, but is now detailed in a new report by the Union of Concerned Scientists. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held hearings on this issue yesterday; the hearing began by Committee members, including most Republicans, stating that global warming was happening and greenhouse gas emissions from human activity were largely to blame.

The OGR hearings presage a landmark moment in climate change research: the release of the 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The IPCC report, drafted by 1,250 scientists and reviewed by an additional 2,500 scientists, is expected to state that "there is a 90% chance humans are responsible for climate change" — up from the 2001 report's 66% chance. It probably won't make for comfortable bedtime reading; "The future is bleak", said scientists.

Submission + - Professors want to ban Wikipedia

Submitted by

Inisheer

on Friday January 26, 2007 @11:08AM

Inisheer writes: "History professors at Middlebury College are tired of having all their students submit the same bad information on term papers. The culprit: Wikipedia — the user-created encyclopedia that's full of great stuff, and also full of inaccuracies. Now the the entire History department has voted to ban students from using it. Other professors agree, but note that they're also enthusiastic contributors to Wikipedia. Read the full story here"

Submission + - Windows-tax savings for Dell n-series evaporates

Submitted by Alsee on Friday January 26, 2007 @09:47AM

Alsee writes: When the Dell Sells Open Source Computers story ran, a detailed price comparison between the E520 Windows systems and the Windows-free E520n systems appeared to show a nice effective discount for avoiding the Windows tax. No more, Dell's prices have been updated. The base price for the Windows system has dropped by $50 and a $70 anomoly in the E520 monitor options has been fixed. The upshot is that there is approximately $zero effective value in buying a Dell n-series trying to avoid the Windows tax. You are better off buying a Dell with Windows preinstalled and calling in to demand the EULA guaranteed refund for the unused OS.

Submission + - Anger over European medical data-sharing

Submitted by ukhackster on Friday January 26, 2007 @09:12AM

ukhackster writes: A row is brewing in Europe over plans to make medical records available across the EC. The scheme calls for interoperability between health systems in 22 different countries. Experts are predicting that security problems could expose confidential patient records, with one calling the affair "a colossal waste of money and energy". Could this be another huge IT project disaster on the horizon?

Submission + - Low cost cure for all cancers?

Submitted by superbrose on Wednesday January 24, 2007 @12:39PM

superbrose writes: The New Scientist reports that scientists at the University of Alberta have found that the well known, widely available drug DCA kills cancer cells while leaving other cells in tact.

From the article:

It sounds almost too good to be true: a cheap and simple drug that kills almost all cancers by switching off their "immortality". The drug, dichloroacetate (DCA), has already been used for years to treat rare metabolic disorders and so is known to be relatively safe.

According to the Daily Reckoning,

the researchers don't know yet, but they believe that DCA may just kill all cancers. Clinical tests of cancer patients are planned. These will require money from charities, universities and governments, because pharmaceutical companies won't pay for a discovery that cannot be patented.

I do hope that these trials will be funded!

Submission + - Blame Gaming - Is the Blinking PS3 Sony's Fault?

Submitted by mattnyc99 on Wednesday January 24, 2007 @12:24PM

mattnyc99 writes: After discovering a blinking problem associated with the HDCP handshake from an HDMI cable to the PlayStation 3, then solving it, then having Slashdot blow it up, Popular Mechanics has now set off a mini-war between Westinghouse and Sony. The 1080p TV set maker appears to be blaming Sony as the source of the blinking PS3, and the two powerhouse companies have organized a pow-wow for today to settle scores.

Submission + - TI exits CMOS process race.

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 24, 2007 @11:44AM

An anonymous reader writes: An EETimes article tells of TI's exit from the digital process race.

From the article:
"According to reports TI (Dallas, Texas) development has decided to stop internal development at the 45-nanometer node and use foundry supplied processes at 32-nm, 22-nm and thereafter."

Submission + - String Theory Test Proposed

Submitted by Alchemist253 on Wednesday January 24, 2007 @05:18AM

Alchemist253 writes: Theoreticians at a trio of American universities have recently proposed a (non-trivial) experimental test of string theory, often called the "theory of everything." Importantly, it is possible that this test could be carried out in the not-too-distant future when CERN's latest powerful tool, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) comes online. From the article, "If the test does not find what the theory predicts about W boson scattering, it would be evidence that one of string theory's key mathematical assumptions is violated. In other words, string theory — as articulated in its current form — would be proven impossible."

Submission + - Better than a TI?

Submitted by

aaronbeekay

on Tuesday January 23, 2007 @08:42PM

aaronbeekay writes: "Hey guys, I'm a sophomore in high school taking an honors chem course. I'm being forced to buy something handheld for a calculator (I've been using Qalculate! and GraphMonkey on my Thinkpad until now). I see people all around me with TIs and think "there could be something so much better." The low-res, monochrome display just isn't appealing to me for $100-150. Is there something I can use close to the same price range with better screen, more usable, and more powerful? Which calcs do you guys use? I'm hoping for this to last through college."

Submission + - 16-year-old girl convicted for child porn

Submitted by

Skiing

on Tuesday January 23, 2007 @11:35AM

Skiing writes: "From Internet Cases: A state appellate court in Florida has affirmed the decision of a trial court that adjudicated a 16-year-old girl a delinquent based on her violation of the state's anti-child pornography statute. The case complicates the analysis as to what kind of privacy rights minors have, and it also raises a fundamental question as to how laws should be enforced to effectuate their purposes. If anti-child pornography statutes are intended to protect minors from exploitation, doesn't it seem at least a bit anomalous to prosecute the very persons who are being exploited?"

Submission + - Freescale and IBM Team Up

Submitted by xlordtyrantx on Tuesday January 23, 2007 @10:27AM

xlordtyrantx writes: The news at ZDNet is running an article about Freescale Semiconductor and IBM teaming up for chip development. From the article: "Freescale Semiconductor, formerly Motorola's chip group, will join a semiconductor technology alliance largely headed by IBM. Under the alliance, Freescale will participate in developing rules and technology for manufacturing 45-nanometer chips. It also has the option of producing chips at IBM's factories."

Submission + - American Healthcare Still Poorest

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 23, 2007 @08:56AM

An anonymous reader writes: According to a recent study, Americans still suffer from poorer health than other developed countries, with a lower life expectancy, and an infantile mortality rate on par with some third world countries... all this despite paying considerably more per capita on healthcare. Is it time for the US to stop being the last industrialized country without nationally subsidized healthcare? Would the American people be ready to accept such a move?

Submission + - 53 CSS-Techniques You Couldn't Live Without

Submitted by Sushi on Friday January 19, 2007 @08:38AM

Sushi writes: CSS is important. And it is being used more and more often. Cascading Style Sheets offer a strict separation between layout, or design of the page, and the information, presented on the page. Thus the design of pages can be easily changed, just replacing a css-file with another one. Over the last few years web-developers have developed many useful techniques, which can save you a lot of time — of course, if you are able to find them in time. The article 53 CSS-Techniques You Couldn't Live Without lists essential techniques, which make the life of web-developers easier. Thanks to all developers who contributed to accessible and usable css-based design over the last few years. We really appreciate it.

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