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Submission + - Public-Friendly Open Science

Submitted by Jace Harker
Jace Harker writes: "The public has often a hard time understanding research and its relevance to society. One of the reasons for this is that scientists do not spend enough time communicating their findings outside their own scientific community," writes Authorea Chief Scientist Matteo Cantiello. "It’s ironic and somewhat frightening that the discoveries and recommendations for which society invests substantial economic and human capital, are not directly disseminated by the people who really understand them."

Cantiello goes on to propose a "Public-Friendly Open Science bundle": scientists who publish a paper should also draft and publish a press release, layperson's summary, and/or YouTube video.

Should scientists be more responsible for communicating their results directly to the public? Or should this role be left to science journalists?

Submission + - Researchers identify 'tipping point' between quantum and classical worlds (rdmag.com)

Submitted by wjcofkc
wjcofkc writes: If we are ever to fully harness the power of light for use in optical devices, it is necessary to understand photons — the fundamental unit of light. Achieving such understanding, however, is easier said than done. That's because the physical behavior of photons — similar to electrons and other sub-atomic particles — is characterized not by classical physics, but by quantum mechanics.

Now, in a study published in Physical Review Letters, scientists from Bar-Ilan University have observed the point at which classical and quantum behavior converge. Using a fiber-based nonlinear process, the researchers were able to observe how, and under what conditions, "classical" physical behavior emerges from the quantum world.

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Building a Home Media Center/Small Server in a Crawlspace 4

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: I've decided it's time for me to build a separate machine specifically for use as a Media Center/Small Home Server.
My wife and I haven't had cable TV in years, instead relying entirely on Netflix, other streaming sites, and hard copies we've bought over the years. Having just finished ripping our entire media collection (CDs, DVDs, and even our Vinyls and VHS with the help of a capture card and some sweet digital voodoo) to a couple HDDs, I'm feeling froggy. Up until now we've been using WDTV Live, and it's been pretty snazzy, but I want to upgrade to a dedicated media machine instead of piggybacking off of my office computer. It'll be a Windows based machine utilizing Plex, and it's going in the crawlspace of the house.

The crawlspace in question is unfinished, but I do have a dry concrete slab down there where I can put/mount/assemble something. Cooling won't be an issue obviously, and I am keeping a close eye on hardware specs with regards to moisture. It is still a crawlspace though...

My Question(s) being:
* What would be a good setup to to house the hardware? Priorities being to safeguard against moisture, vermin, and dirt.
          — Modified PC Tower?
          — Rack?
          — Build an enclosure?
          — Something I haven't considered?

Please assume I'm stubborn and absolutely dead-set on putting it in the crawlspace to avoid the discussion devolving into the "best" place to put a media machine. Any advice or ideas are very much appreciated, Thank you /.

Submission + - US Wind Power Is Expected to Double in the Next 5 Years

Submitted by merbs
merbs writes: The US Department of Energy anticipates that the amount of electricity generated by wind power to more than double over the next five years. Right now, wind provides the nation with about 4.5 percent of its power. But an in-depth DOE report released today forecasts that number will rise to 10 percent by 2020—then 20 percent by 2030, and 35 percent by 2050.

Comment Stem cell therapy (Score 3, Insightful) 552

by Jace Harker (#47074729) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Communication With Locked-in Syndrome Patient?

In addition to technical solutions, you might want to investigate stem cell therapy to regrow or heal nerves in the spinal column. The technology is still in the early stages but has been show to improve motor and sensory function in some cases. Here's a recent review article from PloS that might be a starting point for you.

Comment What about subscription journals? (Score 2) 114

by Jace Harker (#45327157) Attached to: Hoax-Proofing the Open Access Journals

This paper has already been extensively critiqued. To me the biggest problem is that he didn't include any subscription journals.

Many intentionally flawed or nonsense papers have been submitted -- and published! -- to reputable journals in the past.

This latest demonstration by Bohannan just shows that the peer review system needs improvement. It does not show whether Open Access journals are better or worse than subscription journals in terms of quality and reliability of content.

Comment Why not make/license Apple/Android magazine apps? (Score 2) 298

I'm not a huge advocate of DRM or anything, but it seems like you should aim at the Apple/Android tablet market. Build or license a magazine app for content delivery. It'll let you control how much access your users get to the content -- can they save a copy? email it to someone? etc. -- while making it really convenient for your users to get the content delivered regularly and with minimum effort. I suppose you could try to do this on the desktop, but the mobile device world seems tailor-made to your needs, assuming your target audience usually owns mobile devices.

Comment Limit reviews to purchasers of the product (Score 5, Interesting) 248

by Jace Harker (#42397861) Attached to: Amazon: Authors Can't Review Books

One blindingly obvious way to cut down on fake and artificial reviews: only allow reviews from people who have actually purchased the product.

Amazon already highlights reviews by people who have purchased the product, so the functionality already exists. Why not take the next step and only allow those people to write reviews in the first place?

Alternately, Amazon could allow anyone to write a review, but would only calculate the star rating based on purchasers' reviews.

Comment Re:Uniball Vision Micro (Score 1) 712

by Jace Harker (#41838375) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: The Search For the Ultimate Engineer's Pen

I'll second this. The Uni-ball Vision Elite Micro is 0.5mm and produces a reasonably fine line (depending on the paper). The ink doesn't bleed, it requires very little pressure, is quasi-waterproof, the pen won't leak if you take it on an airplane, and the writing experience has a great feel, not scratchy or uneven. It took me years to find this pen and now I never buy any other kind. Obligatory Amazon link: Package of 12.

Comment Re:Magic (Score 1) 562

by Jace Harker (#31236178) Attached to: Fuel Cell Marvel "Bloom Box" Gaining Momentum

Based on the description in the OP, this sounds like just a high temperature solid oxide fuel cell. There's nothing particularly revolutionary about that. It still emits carbon dioxide, and it still requires fuel. Presumably you would feed it with some kind of "carbon neutral" biofuel.

So my question is: why the hype? How is the "Bloom Box" any better than installing a traditional generator powered with biogas? From a practical perspective they seem to do roughly the same thing: take in fuel and spit out electricity and carbon dioxide.

Comment How is this different from Windows or Mac? (Score 0) 769

by Jace Harker (#30310646) Attached to: Is Linux Documentation Lacking?

True, the built-in Linux documentation is often lacking. But in spite of that, it's much, much better than the built-in help files for Windows or Mac.

No matter which OS I use, Google is always my first stop for technical help. The difference between them is that with Linux, I usually find a helpful site almost immediately (usually on the Ubuntu Forums). With Windows, the best help I can find is usually some obscure, confusing entry at the Microsoft Support website. Ick.

Comment Why the sudden outrage? (Score 3, Interesting) 555

by Jace Harker (#30031786) Attached to: Verizon Droid Tethering Comes At a Hefty Price

This isn't new: these terms are exactly the same as Verizon's current plans for Blackberry service. $30/month for the smartphone "data plan", plus an extra $30/month for tethering. And yes, they've always called it "unlimited", but it's always been capped at 5GB. I've been paying these rates for some time. It's annoying, but it's been going on for ages.

It's amusing to me that people are only getting outraged about this now because Verizon is selling a popular new phone that everyone wants to buy.

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