I should add, for anyone crazy enough to want to read the forums, here's a link: Clicky, it can get quite confusing at times, the regulars were well on their way to inventing a new language (not to mention para-religions at times), but there's definitely some fascinating posts as well, and every frame immortalised in order, with an enforced (by how fast you read) gap to replicate the way it felt when it was going.

It was for lack of better terminology, an entirely new way of doing a webcomic. Usually XKCD updates 3 times a week, with a new URL for each one (and very rarely do stories continue across updates), Time updated every 30 minutes at the same URL, initially with minute variations, which lots of the regular viewers missed for quite a while. The complete lack of dialogue for the first 100 or so frames meant that people were being challenged to create their own backstory. The story itself also got grander in scope as it progressed, with subtle hints towards the setting being given. That it went for months, and over 3000 frames (which when viewed are effectively a stop-motion movie), is also unprecedented to my knowledge. It also managed to spawn a thread which managed to stay on-topic for over 50000 posts, (as well as a whole pile of jargon within that thread.)

It isn't the greatest story ever told, but the method of presentation (particularly the enforced wait between frames which leads to great speculation), subtle hints which rely on not insignificant prior knowledge (the time-period was placed by a particularly beautiful, and accurate, rendering of the night sky which was presented over a period of days), make it unique.

Exactly my thoughts on reading the article, the guy would have to be living under a rock to not realise what the compartment was likely to be used for, which under California's law (although he wasn't tried there it would appear) made him an accomplice. It's not unreasonable that he received a jail sentence for his work, ignorance of the law (a key point of the article) does not grant immunity to the law. However, a two and a half decade sentence is most definitely a case of over-zealous sentencing. A 10 year sentence, with possibility of parole at 5 or 6 would be harsh, but fair. 24 years without parole (and more than double the sentence given to the actual main perpetrators in the drug ring) is simply a case of finding a good scapegoat for a campaign of being "Tough on Law and Order". Who was up for election?

That'd be because the majority of pharmaceuticals are covered under the Pharmaceutical Benefit System, ie, subsidised by the government as part of free and universal health care. I'm sure that if the Australian government didn't do that, we'd get an especially large "fuck you" from the pharma companies as well.

As far as media goes, I'm hopeful that something might come of this, it's one thing on physical products (where at least you can put it down to "shipping"), but when buying the exact same software, (or even the same song), costs at least 100% more, then there is no other explanation than price gouging. Particularly galling when most of these countries don't pay much Australian tax on their Australian profits either.

I don't doubt the science behind the concept, and your point about debris being able to puncture the exterior no matter what is a good one. I'm curious about the potential psychological impact of the module. Even if it's completely irrational (and the FA says non-rigid exteriors are better able to withstand a micrometeor), I can't help but feel that if I was up in the ISS, I'd want a solid metal wall, rather than an inflatable fabric one.

Having said that, being able to more than double the size, and presumably living space, of the ISS would probably do a great deal of good psychologically. Not to mention the fact that people who choose to go on missions to the ISS must have a certain amount of crazy to begin with, so probably wont care in the same way an ordinary mortal such as myself would.

The next question of course is how to get it up there? It's about 10x more than the maximum payload of either the Dragon or Soyuz rockets...

You're right, I'm not a scientist, and as such I know how much land an ox can plow in a day! How could the rest of the world be so silly? The only reason that the metric system hasn't been implemented in the US is laziness masquerading as self-entitlement "How dare you take this away from me! This is our history!" Hell, I'm a well educated person, and I had to google ox to find out exactly what one is in relation to a cow. (Trained for farm work apparently, often a castrated male)

Although, I could be a smartarse: my genetic code would only take up about 100GB, add on another 10% maybe for epigenetic markers.

Most of the 300GB is music, photos and TV/Movies. Probably games as well, and a very small proportion of it being text based assignments. Extrapolating from the size of a HTML version of War and Peace, I've probably got another GB or two on my bookshelf, which is actually the data I enjoy the most.

I'd also be curious as to how much "data" the memories and behaviour patterns that make up me would take up, since with the exception of a few GB of photos, none of the other data is really irreplaceable. Any brave neurologist want to take an estimate? Or an overconfident computer scientist?

As cool as this is, I don't see it solving the real issue with solar panels - the expense of retrofitting them to a house/office tower. You'll still need to invest in all the inverters etc, and probably a professional electrician (assuming you like your building not on fire) to use these in any large-scale application, even if they do allow a few more locations to be used. Of course, I'd still love to just whack a couple on my packpack to charge my laptop while at uni...

While you're correct in the second half of your comment, you are ignoring the very good reasons that are driving our search for a room-temperature superconductor. Without doing the calculations, I very much doubt that there is enough fuel on Earth to lift the entire population into a near-Earth orbit, not to mention the massive amounts of infrastructure required to keep them there, (and breathing).

Therefore, a superconductor which would allow us to eliminate the massive amounts of wastage in our electrical infrastructure is certainly useful. Conveniently, most of Earth is at a "room temperature" or similar, making it a far less arbitrary concept. In terms of effect on everyday life, I like to think that in the long run it'll be beneficial, hopefully removing some of the lack of resources which drives most conflicts. Of course, most of human history is against me on that one, technological leaps like these tend to trigger conflicts in the short term, before providing net benefit to the populations, hopefully we survive the next one.

Yes and no.

Just as important as it being built, is that there are sufficient protocols and resources in place to ensure that: a) It continues to operate for a long period of time and b) The information transmitted can be quickly and efficiently analysed and distributed.

The South African bid consists of the telescope scattered across several countries, all of them far less politically stable than Australia and New Zealand, an issue which could potentially cause problems later. In addition, Australia and New Zealand are both well-industrialised, providing both a strong economic base to support the program, and also reducing the likelihood that 10 years from now there will be a massive centre of EM interference next to some of the dishes.

While I'd prefer the South African bid to none at all, I think that the Aus/NZ bid is the better option. And I'm hoping the judges don't vote against it simply as a political manoeuvre. Having said that, I'm both West Australian and Not-An-Astronomer, so I am biased, and also not fully informed of any scientific advantages/disadvantages to the bids.

TFA says that

, but I can't see how it could actually be detecting anything inside the smartphone as the waves emitted by the little electrons zipping around are hardly going to be detected, not to mention identifying those particular disturbances amongst everything else would be impossible. Is it actually detecting the stuff as the cellphone transmits/receives if then? I'm far from an expert in this, so any explanation would be great.

Correct, you don't have an obligation to solve America's problems, you do however have an obligation to ensure fair working conditions and above-starvation wages for your workers. I wonder whether those 8000 workers who were raised from the company dormitories were paid overtime rates? And how much of their wage is docked for the "privelege" of living in said dormitories. Globalisation of manufacturing is a necessary and logical step forward, but it does need to be accompanied by fair working conditions, a matter on which Apple's manufacturers have a poor record.

I feel safe in saying that in most countries, if you're at risk of having a seizure, then your license is automatically suspended. However, driving is rarely a physically demanding activity, and there is no reason why a severe asthmatic, a paraplegic, or an excessively sweaty person cannot drive, even if they cannot then "walk a short distance with breaking sweat". Considering that we regularly allow people with raised levels of visual and cognitive impairment to drive home from the pub, there is no reason why those whose physical disability impacts to no extent of their ability to control a car should not be allowed to drive.