Comment Cool, but not as cool as ... (Score 2, Interesting) 66
... microfluidic Shrinky-dinks! All you need is a laser printer, shrinky dinks, and a toaster oven.
Submission + - Researchers create gravity in lab experiment
jcgam69 writes: Scientists funded by the European Space Agency have measured the gravitational equivalent of a magnetic field for the first time in a laboratory. Under certain special conditions the effect is much larger than expected from general relativity and could help physicists to make a significant step towards the long-sought-after quantum theory of gravity.
Submission + - Scientists create attosecond(1e-18s) laser. (laserfocusworld.com)
BytePusher writes: "Collaborators at CEN Saclay (Gif-sur-Yvette, France), École Polytechnique (Palaiseau, France), and the University of Toronto (Toronto, Ont., Canada) have used a chain of plasma mirrors to create extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) pulses that they predict to be on the attosecond timescale, all with a tabletop laser." http://www.laserfocusworld.com/display_article/294 636/12/ARCHI/none/News/ULTRAFAST-LASERS:-Plasma-mi rrors-generate-high-harmonics
Submission + - New Rubik's puzzle released; no twisting required
PuzzleBoy writes: The first review of the Rubik's Revolution has hit the net. Although the new toy resembles a traditional Rubik's cube, it works in a totally different way, no twisting needed. That's going to cause some confusion around the office. From the article: "My first thought—and I know I won't be alone in this—was to twist it in the traditional Rubik's Cube way. Nothing doing—this cube is a Rubik's in name and basic design only. The decision to package this electronic toy inside the iconic cube seems to be a marketing one: if it didn't have the Rubik's name attached to it, would we all be talking about the toy as much as we are?" Is a light game a worthy successor to the iconic Cube of yore?
Submission + - An Inconvenient Truth, Indeed.
Radon360 writes: The Tennessee Center for Policy Research has checked into Al Gore's carbon footprint with the Nashville Electric Service, and the results were not very promising. It turns out, according to their records, Gore's mansion and guest house consumed twice as much energy in one month than the average American household consumes in a year. Energy use at the Gore homestead has also risen markedly after the release of the movie "An Inconvenient Truth". While electrical consumption was more than 20 times average, natural gas consumption is well above average as well.
It appears that Al Gore has an inconvenient truth of his own.
It appears that Al Gore has an inconvenient truth of his own.
Submission + - Teaching children to write software?
Desmond Elliott writes: "I recently worked on a piece of software for an undergraduate course which involved me writing a Sudoku game using the GWT. My youngest sister (9 years old) was fascinated to know how I had done it and seems quite keen to want to know more. I know that some people say that children and fickle at that age but I'm keen to let her have the resources that she needs to learn more about programming if she wants to.
Does anybody know about any good resources for children to learn more about Java?"
Journal SPAM: 'NYT' Reporter Who Got Iraqi WMDs Wrong Now Highlights Iran 3
Saturday's New York Times features an article, posted at the top of its Web site late Friday, that suggests very strongly that Iran is supplying the "deadliest weapon aimed at American troops" in Iraq. The author notes, "Any assertion of an Iranian contribution to attacks on Americans in Iraq is both politically and diplomatically volatile."
What is the source of this volatile information? Nothing less than "civilian and military officials from a broad range of government agencies."
Submission + - Have You Heard The Good News
fishdan writes: "This Sunday, many Christians of varying denominations will be doing something that will surprise many /. readers. They will hold special services celebrating Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. Their purpose? Refuting creationism, which claims the biblical account of creation is literally true, and which is increasingly being promoted under the guise of "intelligent design".
"For far too long, strident voices, in the name of Christianity, have been claiming that people must choose between religion and modern science," says Michael Zimmerman, founder of Evolution Sunday and dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Butler University in Indianapolis. In the Clergy Letters, Zimmerman goes on to state: "Religious truth is of a different order from scientific truth. Its purpose is not to convey scientific information but to transform hearts."
I'm not Christian, but I think I might attend one of the services (listed on the first link) near my house to show my support for rational religion."
"For far too long, strident voices, in the name of Christianity, have been claiming that people must choose between religion and modern science," says Michael Zimmerman, founder of Evolution Sunday and dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Butler University in Indianapolis. In the Clergy Letters, Zimmerman goes on to state: "Religious truth is of a different order from scientific truth. Its purpose is not to convey scientific information but to transform hearts."
I'm not Christian, but I think I might attend one of the services (listed on the first link) near my house to show my support for rational religion."
Anti Videogame Judge Seeks Re-election In Missouri 76
nevarre writes, "US District Judge Stephen Limbaugh (yes, he IS related to Rush) along with other local judges will be up for retention vote status this November 7th on the Missouri state ballot. You may remember him from his ruling in 2002 that videogames are not a conveyance for ideas and are therefore not protected as 'free speech' even though he felt that stopping fax spam would violate 'commercial speech' protections under the First Amendment."
Diebold Demands That HBO Cancel Documentary 514
Frosty Piss writes "According to the Bloomberg News, Diebold Inc. is insisting that HBO cancel a documentary that questions the integrity of its voting machines, calling the program inaccurate and unfair. The program, 'Hacking Democracy,' is scheduled to debut Thursday, five days before the 2006 U.S. midterm elections. The film claims that Diebold voting machines aren't tamper-proof and can be manipulated to change voting results. 'Hacking Democracy' is 'replete with material examples of inaccurate reporting,' says Diebold. 'We stand by the film," said a spokesman for HBO. 'We have no intention of withdrawing it from our schedule. It appears that the film Diebold is responding to is not the film HBO is airing.'"
Submission + - Forgent Surrenders JPEG Patent Claims
BalloonMan writes: The Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) issued a joyful press release today, excerpted below:
Forgent Networks has stopped asserting its patent against the JPEG international standard for the electronic sharing of photo-quality images. PUBPAT successfully initiated a challenge to the patent last year and this week Forgent dropped all of its pending cases asserting the patent and stated that it would not file any other infringement claims based on the patent.
"By completely ending its assertion of the '672 patent, Forgent has now finally admitted that the patent has no valid claim over the JPEG standard," said Dan Ravicher, PUBPAT's Executive Director. "This utter capitulation by Forgent is long overdue, but a cause for public relief nonetheless."
http://www.pubpat.org/forgentjpeg.htm
Forgent Networks has stopped asserting its patent against the JPEG international standard for the electronic sharing of photo-quality images. PUBPAT successfully initiated a challenge to the patent last year and this week Forgent dropped all of its pending cases asserting the patent and stated that it would not file any other infringement claims based on the patent.
"By completely ending its assertion of the '672 patent, Forgent has now finally admitted that the patent has no valid claim over the JPEG standard," said Dan Ravicher, PUBPAT's Executive Director. "This utter capitulation by Forgent is long overdue, but a cause for public relief nonetheless."
http://www.pubpat.org/forgentjpeg.htm
Submission + - Former CA Boss Gets 12 Years, $8M Fine
mwnyc writes: The BBC, New York Times and others are reporting on the sentence issued today to former CA boss Sanjay Kumar, who had pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy and securities fraud. Mr. Kumar is expected to begin serving time in February 2007. Under federal sentencing guidelines, Kumar could have faced life in prison but the judge called that punishment 'unreasonable'.
Physicists Create Great Balls of Fire 87
dylanduck writes "Talk about having fun at work. These guys have created luminous clouds of ball lightning up to 20 centimetres across and lasting up to half a second, longer and more realistic than before. There's a cool video too. They say it may even help understand how to contain the plasmas needed for nuclear fusion."
