Maybe at some places, but then it won't be so at other places. I recall my school days in India. By the time our summer vacation started in end of May, the temp. was already +40C and even though the school had AC, it just didn't keep up. It was a routine to see someone faint etc. because of the heat. Hence as it got hotter all physical activities were cancelled and so on. Schools reopened just after Monsoon, and weather was bit more bearable. From what I recall, last few weeks of May, and the month of June, with first few weeks of July, practically everything slows down. The heat would grind everything to a halt, only time you would see activity outside was in the morning hours and then in evening. Although what was very different was that the school year starts in February/March, instead of Sept. (as in Canada), and for summer vacation practically every kid had loads of homework to do, which to a degree kept most kids slightly engaged with learning.... On the other hand. Obviously if there has been studies and concrete results about kids performing better etc. vs. Kids back in the day....maybe we should do that then.. Oh..btw...is it ok once we have had these kids in longer school hours attempts some Math/Science tests done by kids from 60s ( who had the summer vacation) and then compare general scores with the criteria being that kids can only use tools available to kids back in 50s & 60s. Curriculum that is set now, with the some of the rules that I hear about, should be fixed first before we do anything to hours/length of school year. Our education system has taken a nose dive for worse. Yet when you go talk to teachers, they say, "Oh yes, your kid is fine, he is doing great". I can't believe that we have adults and educations systems in North America exploring Creationism in school.....What are these people doing, why can they think rationally and logically. Do these people realize that there are other religions in the world too, some older than Christianity and Judaism for that. For anyone who argues that summer vacation should be reviewed, should first absolutely commit to the fact that all religions are farce. That alone will expose so much commotion, illogical arguments, bureaucracy and politics in the education system, which if all fixed you won't need extra hours to make kids smart. Six year old kids hear can barely write A-Z, 1-200, some better cases can spell 2-3 letters or add 1-2 digit numbers that is it. Whereas in some other parts of the world with similar amount of schooling, they are already doing short sentences...and are starting to explore addition/subtractions at higher order. All this rant... Fix the education standards first, otherwise all we are going to have more schooling, more expenses...yet same old dumb kids.

Are you kidding me ??? What was god doing before he created x, where did God come from... Let me get this straight...You believe that god always existed (oh the irony... you can't even rationally prove that god exists) but you don't believe that universe always existed, even though there is overwhelming evidence(we are here ...) and and same sane theories about it (big bang etc.) I am stumped??? how dumb am i ??

Government: uhm....Yea..but is it green? Prof: This is science, applications come after Government: Can't use it in election. Grant Denied Next Man: This is high gloss lipstick Government: Does it help me in Election Next Man: It will Make PM look 10 years younger with better lips than Angelina Jolie Prime Minister: Grant for $10,000,0000 approved. Have it ready in 6 months Ugh!!! could've done better :( I am comedically challenged...

Wow..that is so smart :) everything is by the numbers, wonder why even rest of the world hasn't figured that economics is so simple as either X* Y or X*(Y-1)...

Have you ever been to India, it is great when so many people here point out Illiteracy & safe water? Even if you have schools, uhm how many poor people are going to send their kids to school. Oh wait, forget the the poor people, how many of those who are bit better off are going to send their kids to higher education when the attitude is, what am I going to do with education, there is nothing I can do, all the government does is make schools and dig wells. Oh wait the wells they've been digging aren't so great either. For some strange reason only way Indians can get safe water (when they really need it) is when its got ton of chemicals etc. in it to kill all the unsafe things...and for some reason unsafe water peaks during monsoons(ironic you have fresh water falling from sky, yet all the water is unsafe)...oh did I mention that most Indians (even poor ones) typically boil/purify the drinking water. Oh maybe cause they've been doing that for ages, keeping drinking water separate from regular/daily use water. Then again I am sure you probably know that International firms are probably the biggest water/land polluters now.

Safe water, Universal Education, Safe Roads, Access to utilities are great things if you have money for that, but the reality is quite different. Building the lab will cost money, mostly tax payer money and maybe some donations etc. but it will be far better utilized than those socialist projects. A good sort of example of wastage would be Bridge/Road to nowhere in Alaska(I am sure you have heard of it)...whereas in India an example of waste would be a road that perhaps links bunch of villages together..but the fact is there is no trade between those villages, people's primary mode of travel is Walk/Cycle and/or Oxen/Horse carts. Some better off villagers might have Scooters or 100cc bikes. There are countless schools in India that don't have students, because the kids or their parent think they have better things to do than get educated. You cannot change that thought process, the kids should want to study, parents should want to send their kids to school, and trust me Indian government doesn't have that kind of money...so what will motivate the kids, when they see educated people get jobs, when educated population can afford better living. Right now one of the biggest problems facing the educated population is lack of good jobs.

Only reason lately India has been doing well is because of strange politics, the way Congress, BJP have been locked in horns, its has been in the best interest of past and present coalition government to be *not corrupt* and invest in good long term projects. There have been more smart long term projects & long term policies in India in past 10 years than ever before. During those past 10 year it has been mostly coalition government. Remember this is the same government that made a Nuclear deal with US & rest of the world despite the fact its not a signatory to non-proliferation treaty. Despite all that, its a fact the politicians in India are one of the most corrupt ones you will find in the world if not the worst.

Politicians are bribed to the hilt, so they turn a blind eye. A project like this which will constantly be in public eye and constantly be scrutinized by people like you, will have less money siphoned off than the "School & Well" project. Oh btw, did I mention India has already done countless School & Well projects but never the neutrino lab.

I am not saying that more schools & more wells(or bores for hands pumps atleast) won't help but right now, some thing like this lab would help way more than you think, All those kids that went through School/College/Uni, doctorates and stuff...they can appreciate having a job for a change. I have lived in India, Government policies like Free Electricity & free *safe water* for poor have been around for a long time...these socialist policies are exactly the reason why so many are poor & illiterate as some would say it. Lately the biggest issue was...the poor people keep all electrical devices & water water running constantly without even bothering to conserve etc. cause after all its free, meanwhile anyone who can afford to have a real house or bit more pay exuberant amount of money for both electricity and water(in other words they are paying for wastage by poor people). Its an on going cycle, the politicians dare not start charging poor people cause they need the votes and since poor people outnumber middle class right now...they have more votes.

I honestly don't think you have seen corruption..corruption to the level where it might endanger lives...realistically projects that make advances in science, communications etc. have been more beneficial to Indian lately. Moreover think about it you argument about waste...one of the first things they are going to need for this lab is going to be power. Power is something that they already don't have, so to build that lab, they will in turn will have to make power plants..that in itself is one of the biggest benefits that the immediate locality is going to see.

Let me tell you, I kid you not, India right now needs more of these projects than your Keynesian multiplier analysis.

There...I have vented...

I'm screwed

You got it as wrong as possible when it comes to nuclear bombs. Uranium (or any other nuclear material being used for the bomb) is the only hard part to get. Assembling a nuclear bomb provided you have the enriched nuclear material is supposedly easy/straightforward. Why do you think US & allies are up in arms about Iran's Enrichment Program.

I've got two apple xserve servers, one old dual G4 with regular 4 ATA drives, and the new one with 3 SATA drives. I bought them both with smallest/cheapest drives, and then replaced the drives with off the shelf bigger drives. Absolutely no difference in reliability/performance. I can say that cause older Xserve drives were still running good for 5 years when I replaced them with bigger drives, and new xserve is still running good. Drives modules is no different every manufacturer has their own custom drive trays, which fit their servers only, Apple is doing nothing different here. Even our Mac's have had drives and other hardware replaced with off the shelf parts, and they work just as good, drives ironically were replaced from some Mac's cause original Apple ones failed.