AaronBenage - Slashdot User

Submission + - Electricity From Salty Water (physicscentral.com) 1

Submitted by

BuzzSkyline

on Friday July 24, 2009 @08:58AM

BuzzSkyline writes: "It's possible to produce energy by simply mixing fresh and salty water. Although chemists and physicists have long known about the untapped energy available where fresh water rivers pour into salty oceans, the technology for exploiting the effect has been lacking. An Italian physicist seems to have solved the problem with the experimental demonstration of a "salination cell" that creates power given nothing more than input sources of salty and fresh water. Apparently the renewable, environmentally friendly energy source is comparable to "each river in the world ending at its mouth in a waterfall 225 meters [739 feet] high." A paper describing the technology is due to be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Physical Review Letters."

Comment Re:Rational (Score 1) 807

by AaronBenage on Tuesday January 27, 2009 @05:49PM (#26629383) Attached to: Marijuana Could Prevent Alzheimer's, New Study

I really think it comes down to the fact that there is no way to quantitatively determine how high a person might be at any given time. With alcohol, you can get a finite measurement of blood alcohol content. Considering that marijuana stays in your system for much longer than alcohol, it would be difficult to impose laws based upon saturation thresholds as is done with alcohol. In addition to that, differing strains/growing conditions of marijuana provide a different level and quality of intoxication which cannot be quantitatively measured. On top of all of that, people have vastly differing tolerances to the mighty herb. In short, if you can't measure the effects, there is no way to prosecute. Law makers want to be able to prosecute for driving under the influence, public intoxication, etc. and they effectively can't do that. That's why it is still illegal...

Comment Re:why? (Score 2, Funny) 194

by AaronBenage on Thursday December 11, 2008 @10:12AM (#26074209) Attached to: Why a Music Tax Is a Bad Idea

Why would a Wookiee, an eight-foot tall Wookiee, want to live on Endor, with a bunch of two-foot tall Ewoks? That does not make sense! But more important, you have to ask yourself: What does this have to do with this case? Nothing. Ladies and gentlemen, it has nothing to do with this case! It does not make sense! Look at me. I'm a lawyer defending a major record company, and I'm talkin' about Chewbacca! Does that make sense? Ladies and gentlemen, I am not making any sense! None of this makes sense! And so you have to remember, when you're in that jury room deliberatin' and conjugatin' the Emancipation Proclamation, does it make sense? No! Ladies and gentlemen of this supposed jury, it does not make sense! If Chewbacca lives on Endor, you must acquit! The defense rests.

Submission + - Yellowstone Supervolcano Making Strange Rumblings

Submitted by

Frosty Piss

on Wednesday March 14, 2007 @10:46PM

Frosty Piss writes: "Supervolcanoes can sleep for centuries or millennia before producing incredibly massive eruptions that can drop ash across an entire continent. One of the largest supervolcanoes in the world lies beneath Yellowstone National Park. Yet significant activity continues beneath the surface. And the activity has been increasing lately, scientists have discovered. In addition, the nearby Teton Range of mountains, in a total surprise, is getting shorter. The findings, reported this month in the Journal of Journal of Geophysical Research, suggest that a slow and gradual movement of a volcano over time can shape a landscape more than a violent eruption."

Parallels Desktop for OS X Reviewed 300

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday July 10, 2006 @03:46PM from the virtualization-hot-emulation-not dept.

phaedo00 writes "Ars Technica has put up a great review of the first full release of Parallels' virtualization software for OS X, Parallels Desktop 1.0. From the article: 'Move over emulation, virtualization is in and it's hotter than two Jessica Albas wresting the devil himself in a pit of molten steel. It's no contest, virtualization has it all: multiple operating systems running on the same machine at nearly the full speed of the host's processor with each system seamlessly networking with the next. Add to that the fact that it's cheaper than getting a new machine and you have the guaranteed latest craze. Not even the Hula Hoop can stop this one.'"

Google Launches Online Spreadsheet System 485

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday June 06, 2006 @08:51AM from the oh-it's-on-now dept.

Accommodate Students writes "In a move that is sure to cause even more discussion of Google's intentions to go head-to-head with Microsoft in the Office Suite arena, they have launched a spreadsheet. AP is reporting this as 'Google further invades its rival's territory.' You can share spreadsheets with other users and can chat while you're editing -- multiplayer spreadsheets! It can read both CSV and XLS formats." More from the article: "Google is targeting Office, which generated $2.95 billion in sales and $2.09 billion in profit in Microsoft's third quarter ended March 31. Microsoft plans a new release this year and is trying to get Office into more consumers' hands at a cheaper price while persuading businesses to buy higher-priced versions."

Biggest Obstacle of Nuclear Fusion Overcome? 444

Posted by Hemos on Monday May 22, 2006 @10:36AM from the baby-steps-to-clean-energy dept.

Yetihehe writes "Nuclear fusion could become a more viable energy solution with the discovery of way to prevent super-hot gases from causing damage within reactors. The potential solution, tested at an experimental reactor in San Diego, US, could make the next generation of fusion reactors more efficient, saving hundreds of millions of euros a year."

Slashdot Top Deals