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8-Core Intel Nehalem-EX To Launch This Month 186

Posted by Soulskill from the double-the-cores-for-only-twice-the-price dept.
MojoKid writes "What could you do with 8 physical cores of CPU processing power? Intel's upcoming 8-core Nehalem-EX is launching later this month, according to Intel Xeon Platform Director Shannon Poulin. The announcement puts to rest rumors that the 8-core part might be delayed, and makes good on a promise Intel made last year when the chip maker said it would release the chip in the first half of 2010. To quickly recap, Nehalem-EX boasts an extensive feature-set, including up to 8 cores per processor, up to 16 threads per processor with Intel Hyper-threading, scalability up to eight sockets via Intel's serial Quick Path Interconnect and more with third-party node controllers, and 24MB of shared cache."
Space

15-Year-Old Student Discovers New Pulsar 103

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the sky-isn't-the-limit dept.
For the second time in as many years, a student has made a discovery while participating in the Pulsar Search Collaboratory (PSC), a joint program between the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and West Virginia University designed to get students and teachers involved in analyzing data from the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT). This time it was high school sophomore Shay Bloxton, who discovered a brand new pulsar. "For Bloxton, the pulsar discovery may be only her first in a scientific career. 'Participating in the PSC has definitely encouraged me to pursue my dream of being an astrophysicist,' she said, adding that she hopes to attend West Virginia University to study astrophysics. Late last year, another West Virginia student, from South Harrison High School, Lucas Bolyard, discovered a pulsar-like object called a rotating radio transient. His discovery also came through participation in the PSC."
Biotech

Scientists To Breed the Auroch From Extinction 277

Posted by samzenpus from the back-by-popular-demand dept.
ImNotARealPerson writes "Scientists in Italy are hoping to breed back from extinction the mighty auroch, a bovine species which has been extinct since 1627. The auroch weighed 2,200 pounds (1000kg) and its shoulders stood at 6'6". The beasts once roamed most of Asia and northern Africa. The animal was depicted in cave paintings and Julius Caesar described it as being a little less in size than an elephant. A member of the Consortium for Experimental Biotechnology suggests that 99% of the auroch's DNA can be recreated from genetic material found in surviving bone material. Wikipedia mentions that researchers in Poland are working on the same problem."
Space

Super-Earths Discovered Orbiting Nearby, Sun-Like Star 242

Posted by Soulskill from the i-for-one dept.
likuidkewl writes "Two super-earths, 5 and 7.5 times the size of our home, were found to be orbiting 61 Virginis a mere 28 light years away. 'These detections indicate that low-mass planets are quite common around nearby stars. The discovery of potentially habitable nearby worlds may be just a few years away,' said Steven Vogt, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at UCSC. Among hundreds of our nearest stellar neighbors, 61 Vir stands out as being the most nearly similar to the Sun in terms of age, mass, and other essential properties."

Submission + - Peter Watts Beaten, Charged, Returning to Canada

Submitted by JoeGee
JoeGee writes: On December 8th, Canadian sci fi author Peter Watts, author of the Rifters trilogy and recently, Blindsight, was crossing the US/Canadian border at Port Huron, Michigan when he was involved in an altercation with US Border Patrol agents. According to Watts he was beaten, left half-naked in a cold cell, and finally dumped on the Canadian side of the border with no coat. Blogger, journalist, and author Cory Doctorow was accompanying Watts on the crossing, and gives his account here. A legal consultant from the Electronic Frontier Foundation was successful in helping a civil rights lawyer in Michigan free Watts. Watts faces US charges of assaulting a federal officer. Based on the accounts one can assume Watts did so by hitting the officer's hand with his face. If convicted Watts faces two years in a US Federal prison.

Submission + - A rose by any other name (suntory.com)

Submitted by JoeGee
JoeGee writes: Japanese conglomerate Suntory, along with Australian company Florigene have fulfilled a two decade quest to perfect and bring to market the first blue rose. For the time being those /.ers who wish to impress their significant other with these genetically modified posies either have to live in Japan or pay $25.00 per rose plus shipping to have them delivered to the door of their loved one.

Comment Minor correction: CCR5 Delta 32 != Antibodies (Score 1) 263

by JoeGee (#26730309) Attached to: Doctors Will Test Gene Editing On HIV Patients
CCR5 is not about antibodies. I'm one of the individuals with the homozygous (two copies) CCR5 Delta 32 mutation. It's a deletion mutation, meaning that I lack functional receptors HIV-1 binds to on the surface of my T-cells. My understanding is that except for theoretical strains of HIV that bind to the CXCR4 co-receptor, most of the strains prevalent in the wild will have no more effect on me than parvo virus.

That doesn't mean I get a free pass to be irresponsible, but it does mean that I stand a significantly reduced chance of contracting HIV through stupid behavior, that if smallpox ever breaks out I'll be really busy helping to heal the sick, that bubonic plague isn't too much of a problem for me either, but that West Nile can really screw me up.

Comment Maybe a magic 8-ball type display ... (Score 1) 403

by JoeGee (#26226443) Attached to: Interesting Uses For a USB LED Screen?
All dealing with tech support:
  • "First, plug in the cord."
  • "Hard drive or system case?"
  • "I heard of that virus five years ago."
  • "Pogo.com is not an approved application."
  • "Yes, it is your fault."
  • "Reboot your computer."
  • "Your password is not 'emily@doodads.org'."
  • "Your user name is not zXd4#7_uUc2."
  • "HyperText Markup Language."
  • "Bill Gates hates you."
  • "Keep looking for the 'any' key."
  • "Bill Gates hates me more."
  • "Call Purchasing and request an abacus."
  • "7"
  • "I suggest one of the new tablets: a pen and paper."
  • "I only golf when the network goes down."
  • "I'll support your home PC when you support my expensive cigar habit."
  • "Try again later."

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