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Space

Submission + - Solar Cycle Linked to Global Climate (spacefellowship.com) 2

Submitted by
Matt_dk
Matt_dk writes: "Establishing a key link between the solar cycle and global climate, new research led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) shows that maximum solar activity and its aftermath have impacts on Earth that resemble La Niña and El Niño events in the tropical Pacific Ocean. The research may pave the way toward better predictions of temperature and precipitation patterns at certain times during the Sun's cycle, which lasts approximately 11 years."
Data Storage

Submission + - World's First LEED Platinum Data Center Opens (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by
Mike
Mike writes: "Germany recently unveiled the world's first LEED Platinum data center — the project was no small task considering the energy required to keep stacks of servers running smoothly in a climate-controlled environment. Designed by Arup Associates, the project is nothing short of gorgeous, and it uses only 30 percent of the power that a typical data center would utilize, and only requires 40 percent of the heating energy. Additionally, through the use of innovative reverse osmosis water treatment for cooling, the building will save 50 million liters of water per year."
Censorship

Submission + - US ISP Blocking the Pirate Bay? (zeropaid.com)

Submitted by
Miladinoski
Miladinoski writes: "Qwest customers complain about being unable to access the Swedish torrent tracker site The Pirate Bay, which was first reported by a user on the DSLReports forum and then confirmed by couple of others.

The reporting customer later talked with the tech support of Qwest which also said that were unable to access the site either. Is it just some technical glitch or has Qwest began blocking websites accused of infringement of copyrights, nobody knows, but it could cause their customers move on to another ISP if something like that happens in the future."
Government

Submission + - US cyber-security tsar steps down (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by b1nary atr0phy
b1nary atr0phy writes: Melissa Hathaway told the [Wall Street Journal] she was leaving for "personal reasons" and would return to the private sector. The former strategist was appointed as acting national cyber-adviser in February and was expected to be offered the post of full time. Ms Hathaway was widely regarded as the person to fill the post after taking on the role as acting senior director for cyberspace for the National Security and Homeland Security Councils in February. In April she completed a review of cyber-security for the Obama administration. At the time, Ms Hathaway said the job ahead was "a marathon, not a sprint." Her successor has not yet been named by the White House.
Google

Submission + - AT&T: Your World Of Hurt Delivered (bnet.com)

Submitted by
Michael_Curator
Michael_Curator writes: "AT&T was behind Apple's decision to pull the Google Voice app from the iTune store after all. This isn't conjecture — there is a smoking gun, which is the following response by an Apple customer service rep, posted by Google Voice developer Sean Kovacs. What a stupid move by AT not only will this cause all kinds of regulatory problems for the carrier, but the move effectively throws customers into the arms of its principal rival, Verizon. No wonder Google is upset."
Medicine

Submission + - Major New Function Discovered For The Spleen

Submitted by
circletimessquare
circletimessquare writes: "The spleen doesn't get much respect. Those undergoing a splenectomy seem to be able to carry on without any consequences. However, some studies have suggested an enhanced risk of early death for those who have undergone splenectomies. Now researchers have discovered why: the spleen apparently serves as a vast reservoir for monocytes, the largest of the white blood cells, the wrecking crew of the immune system. After major trauma, such as a heart attack, the monocytes are disgorged into the blood stream and immediately get to work repairing the damage. '"The parallel in military terms is a standing army," said Matthias Nahrendorf, an author of the report. "You don't want to have to recruit an entire fighting force from the ground up every time you need it."'"

Comment Re:I might be too old... (Score 2, Insightful) 785

by ICLKennyG (#28901503) Attached to: School System Considers Jamming Students' Phones
How is this relevant though? We aren't talking about beating up the children and taking their phones. We are talking about confiscaiting the phone. Easy ramifications without physical violence include:
  • Confiscation
  • Detention
  • Suspension
  • Expulsion

Phones weren't allowed in my school, I got one with about 3 months to go before the end of senior year. If it rang in school it would have been confiscated. This is not corporal punishment and so discussing these lawsuits related to it is off-topic and unnecessary. How did you get to 5 pts for that?
Security

Submission + - P2P network exposes Obama's safehouse location (computerworld.com)

Submitted by
Lucas123
Lucas123 writes: "The location of the safe house used in times of emergency for the First Family was leaked on a LimeWire file-sharing network recently, a fact revealed today to members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Along with the safe house location, the LimeWire networks also disclosed presidential motorcade routes, as well as sensitive but unclassified document that listed details on every nuclear facility in the country. Now lawmakers are considering a bill to ban P2P use on government, contractor networks."
The Courts

Submission + - IDSA Lyme Disease Guideline Corruption Hearings (lymedisease.org)

Submitted by
tobryant
tobryant writes: "Home | News | Long-awaited Review of Lyme Disease Guidelines Set for Thursday Long-awaited Review of Lyme Disease Guidelines Set for Thursday Font size: Decrease font Enlarge font image Ordered hearing could finally bring chronic Lyme patients relief On Thursday, July 30, 2009, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) Lyme Disease Review Panel will conduct a daylong hearing, required under an antitrust settlement between the IDSA and the Connecticut Attorney General. Patients, researchers and physicians from both sides of this hotly debated topic will present testimony to the panel in Washington, DC. The Attorney General's investigation of the IDSA revealed the 2006 guidelines panel members had widespread commercial conflicts of interests and had excluded peer-reviewed scientific evidence supporting chronic Lyme disease. The new panel is charged with evaluating the scientific basis of the guidelines, which currently deny patients access to antibiotic therapy — the only treatment option available for chronic Lyme disease. Health insurers rely on the IDSA guidelines to deny medical reimbursements. State medical boards use them to launch unprofessional conduct actions, placing physicians who continue to treat chronic Lyme disease at risk of losing their licenses. The testimony will be aired live over the internet and archived for one year on www.idsociety.org, the IDSA website. Lyme patients and advocates from around the country will be watching. CALDA is hosting an all day live blog and discussion forum at their website. Patient advocates say the insurance-friendly guidelines are so restrictive they effectively deny people with chronic Lyme disease access to antibiotics, the only medical treatment available to treat their illness and restore them to functional lives. The IDSA counters that there is "no convincing biologic evidence to support a diagnosis of chronic Lyme disease," dismisses study results showing that chronic symptoms improve with longer antibiotic treatment, and claims antibiotics are dangerous. Up to half the patients treated according to the IDSA protocol remain ill. "Guidelines need to place the interests of patients over the profit motivations of commercial interests in vaccines, Lyme test kits and insurers, which were widespread on the 2006 panel. Even this process, with IDSA-selected panel members and presenters, is not impartial. Still, we hope the new panel will seize this opportunity to set things right by patients and alleviate the needless suffering these guidelines cause," commented Attorney Lorraine Johnson, Executive Director of the California Lyme Disease Association and one of the presenters. "What we need is the establishment of a broader set of guidelines that reflect the latest science rather than guidelines that ignore an entire line of scientific reasoning. And we need guidelines that offer options for both diagnosis and treatment," adds Pat Smith, President of the national Lyme Disease Association." Lyme disease is a complicated illness. Since diagnostic testing may fail to identify 50% of the patients with Lyme disease, a physician's ability to diagnose patients clinically is essential. In addition, many patients remain ill after standard treatment, as disabled as people with congestive heart failure. According to a recent survey by CALDA, many are unable to work or go to school. Physicians need guidelines providing treatment options and permitting them to use their clinical judgment. Instead, the IDSA protocol requires positive lab testing for a diagnosis, restricts physician's exercise of clinical judgment and denies patients treatment options. There is growing opposition to the IDSA guidelines. A number of researchers, physicians and medical societies, including the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons, oppose the IDSA restrictive treatment guidelines. In June, the Connecticut State Medical Society supported legislation unanimously passed by the Connecticut General Assembly and signed into law, protecting physicians from medical censure based on IDSA guidelines. California and Rhode Island have similar laws. "Policymakers have created diagnostic and treatment guidelines that box physicians into an unworkable paradigm. This is a complex illness, with poor diagnostic tests. The current guidelines have unacceptably high failure rates for all stages of the disease and leave many patients suffering with no treatment options. Physicians need guidelines that give them the flexibility to treat these patients and restore them to health," adds Harriet Kotsoris, MD, Time for Lyme Medical Advisor. National and grass roots organizations, such as Time for Lyme, the national Lyme Disease Association and California Lyme Disease Association are raising awareness, scrambling for much-needed research dollars to get definitive answers, and supporting legislation to allow clinicians greater treatment flexibility. "This reminds me of similar efforts by AIDS and breast cancer patients to obtain access to health care," said CALDA president Phyllis Mervine. "I hope this hearing will be a turning point for our community." Time for Lyme, the national Lyme Disease Association, and California Lyme Disease Association are non-profit organizations that were founded by individuals who had personal experience with Lyme disease, in order to address the lack of research, education and support services available for this newly emerging infection."
Links

Submission + - Jellyfish Swimming is mixing the oceans (wired.com)

Submitted by eviltangerine
eviltangerine writes: A new article out of Nature suggests that marine creatures, such as the jellyfish, may contribute as much to ocean mixing as wind and tides. Wired is also covering it and includes a video of the jellyfish in action.

These "could have a profound influence on climate models, which do not now account for this so-called biogenic mixing. If swimming generates tide-scale forces, then 'it has an impact on global climate. This is a rather novel twist to the whole climate story,' said William Dewar, a Florida State University oceanographer. 'How one would extend existing models to include a biosphere mixing input is not clear, largely because no-one has spent much time thinking about it.'" Link to the Nature article here (pricey registration required)

No word yet on when the jellyfish blender is to debut.
Government

Submission + - Utah's 4 day/40hr week appears to work (scientificamerican.com)

Submitted by SpuriousLogic
SpuriousLogic writes: As government agencies and corporations scramble to cut expenses, one idea gaining widespread attention involves cutting something most employees wouldn't mind losing: work on Fridays. Regular three-day weekends, without a decrease in the actual hours worked per week, could not only save money, but also ease pressures on the environment and public health, advocates say. In fact, several states, cities and companies across the country are considering, or have already implemented on a trial basis, the condensed schedule for their employees.Local governments in particular have had their eyes on Utah over the last year; the state redefined the workday for more than 17,000 of its employees last August. For those workplaces, there's no longer a need to turn on the lights, elevators or computers on Fridays--nor do janitors need to clean vacant buildings. Electric bills have dropped even further during the summer, thanks to less air-conditioning: Friday's midday hours have been replaced by cooler mornings and evenings on Monday through Thursday. As of May, the state had saved $1.8 million.
Cellphones

Chinese Employee Loses iPhone Prototype, Kills Self 514

Posted by kdawson from the taking-the-job-way-too-seriously dept.
tlhIngan writes "Physical intimidation of a Foxconn employee, 25 year-old Sun Danyong, and a possibly-illegal search of his house may have led to suicide after an iPhone prototype in his possession was lost. Foxconn is Apple's long-time manufacturing partner for the iPhone. Entrusted with 16 iPhone prototypes, Danyong discovered that one was missing and searched the factory for it. When it didn't turn up, he reported the incident to his boss, who ordered his apartment searched. There are reports of physical intimidation by Foxconn security personnel. This ended tragically on Thursday at 3 AM, when Danyong jumped from his apartment building to his death." VentureBeat notes that "Apple exerts immense pressure on its business partners [to] help it maintain secrecy." An Apple spokesperson said this to CNet: "We are saddened by the tragic loss of this young employee, and we are awaiting results of the investigations into his death. We require our suppliers to treat all workers with dignity and respect."
Government

We Were Smarter About Copyright Law 100 Years Ago 152

Posted by kdawson from the intelligent-debate dept.
An anonymous reader writes "James Boyle has a blog post comparing the recording industry's arguments in 1909 to those of 2009, with some lovely Google book links to the originals. Favorite quote: 'Many and numerous classes of public benefactors continue ceaselessly to pour forth their flood of useful ideas, adding to the common stock of knowledge. No one regards it as immoral or unethical to use these ideas and their authors do not suffer themselves to be paraded by sordid interests before legislative committees uttering bombastic speeches about their rights and representing themselves as the objects of "theft" and "piracy."' Industry flaks were more impressive 100 years ago. In that debate the recording industry was the upstart, battling the entrenched power of the publishers of musical scores. Also check out the cameo appearance by John Philip Sousa, comparing sound recordings to slavery. Ironically, among the subjects mentioned as clearly not the subject of property rights were business methods and seed varieties." Boyle concludes: "...one looks back at these transcripts and compares them to today's hearings — with vacuous rantings from celebrities and the bloviation of bad economics and worse legal theory from one industry representative after another — it is hard not to feel a sense of nostalgia. In 1900, it appears, we were better at understanding that copyright was a law that regulated technology, a law with constitutional restraints, that property rights were not absolute and that the public would not automatically be served by extending rights out to infinity."

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