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Comment Re:Trump cut the funding (Score 5, Insightful) 149

Everyone has the right to be a political activist. That includes scientists. You want to cut the ability of scientists to speak their opinion. And that's a bad thing per se.

In jurisdiction, there is the principle: Ignorantia legis non excusat. We should apply the same principle to science. Ignorantia scientes non excusat. Being wrong about science is not an opinion. It's something you could rectify by educating yourself about science, in the same way you educate yourself about the legal situation before deciding something important. No judge will excuse you for having a "different legal opinion" about something that is clearly stated otherwise in the law. We should do the same for science. And if you don't like the way scientists are of a different opinion than you about the possible outcome of a political decision, it's not because they are activists, it's because they know something you want to ignore.

Comment Re:Just lithium ion? (Score 2) 110

There is no such thing as "plain Lithium-Ion". Lithium-Ion is a catch-all term for accumulator cells which use Lithium ions in anode, cathode and electrolyte. There are many versions of them. The oldest type is Lithium-Cobaltoxide (LiCoO2), which uses Cobalt(II)-oxide in the cathode. Then there is Lithium-Nickel-Maganese-Cobalt (LiNMC), which is often used in cars, because it allows for very dense accumulator cells. Lithium-Ironphosphate (LiFePO4), while having the same gravimetric density as LiNMC, takes up more space for the same capacity, it is a more fluffy material. We have Lithium-Nickel-Cobalt-Aluminium-Oxide (LiNCA), used in the cells Panasonic builds for Tesla. Many pedelec batteries, but also the Nissan Leaf use Lithium-Manganeseoxide (LiMO) cells.

Comment Re:Silver linings (Score 5, Insightful) 95

Additionally, diesel generators need regular diesel transport, while a solar+battery installation, once in place, does not require outside resources. You could even transport solar panels and batteries with a motorcycle along a foot path, which is much more complicated with a diesel generator. And a solar+battery installation is easily scalable, while a diesel generator is not.

Comment Re:US senators ae shiteaters who swallow (Score 1) 131

My grandmother lived near an airbase, and every day, there were at least two supersonic aircraft in the skies. When they were flying above us, you could not understand the other guy talking. And we have to consider the distance in the line of sight. A starting aircraft on an airbase on the other side of the valley might be 10 miles away from you. A starting airplane right above you is quite different.

Comment Re:US senators ae shiteaters who swallow (Score 5, Informative) 131

I wonder why most other nations also had a ban of non-military supersonic flight in place, nations with supersonic passenger jets, a.k.a. France and the United Kingdom, and those without, like Brasil or Germany.

Supersonic flight is incredibly noisy, and you don't want it above you.

Comment Re:Probably for the better in the long run (Score 4, Interesting) 111

The fact is that the catastrophe happens, no matter what. But there are people wanting to hide it for as long as possible, while others think that getting prepared because of solid information available beforehand makes some sense.

Climate change happens, and it is hanging fast, faster than ever in recorded geological times.

All's left to do is to answer three questions:

  1. Do we want Climate change?
  2. If no, do we want to do something about it?
  3. Whatever the answers to the two questions above, who will foot the bill?

There are people wanting to dodge the questions, especially the third one by hand waving and mumbling something about economy, technological advance and the market forces. And there are people who want answers.

Comment Re:Amazon is corrupt! (Score 4, Insightful) 22

I think it may be evidence that Amazon has a shitty corporate culture that squeezes every penny it can out its employees.

Corruption can happen anywhere, but it's more likely to happen in totalitarian cultures where people feel like the system is rigged anyway. That's why countries like Russia and China have corruption problems. But I suspect the same feelings of me vs. the system occur in a capitalist enterprise like Amazon where employees are governed by dystopian, rigid, computerized metrics.

Medicine

Non-Invasive Stimulation of the Brain Ended Opioid Addiction, Cigarette Craving (jpost.com) 37

The Jerusalem Post reports that doctors at Haifa's Rambam Health Care Campus "have successfully treated their first Israeli opioid addiction patient using an experimental noninvasive brain technology, easing him through withdrawal in just 20 minutes..." [T]he team of specialists at the Haifa medical center intervened in the electrical activity of an area of the patient's brain called the nucleus accumbens, the core of the brain system responsible for feelings of satisfaction, pleasure, and reward. The treatment, based on technology from the Israeli company Insightec, is similar to the one used to treat symptoms of essential tremor and Parkinsonian tremor, under MRI control. In this case, the treatment was carried out with the help of a new technology that performs noninvasive neuromodulation, without heating or burning tissue, and allows stimulation in the same area of the brain to increase or suppress activity...

"Tests carried out a week later produced negative results for opioids and other substances," [said Dr. Lior Lev-Tov, director of the functional neurosurgery unit in Rambam's neurosurgery division and the one leading the new study at the medical center.] "The patient himself reported a craving score of zero out of 10 for using the drug, and even another side effect, a drastic drop in the desire for cigarettes, from three packs a day to just a few cigarettes, and with no urge to use alcohol. In other words, in a treatment that lasted about 20 minutes net, our patient was completely freed from an extreme dependence that had accompanied him every day for years. This is nothing less than a medical and therapeutic revolution."

Dr. Lev-Tov added that "This experience opens doors for us to treat a wide range of very serious illnesses such as PTSD, OCD, eating disorders, other addictions, severe depression, severe pain disorders, and I hope we will also be able to reach cognitive areas and treat attention deficit disorders, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and more."

Thanks to Slashdot reader Bruce66423 for sharing the article.

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