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Comment So many programs, so much laziness... (Score 1) 130

Only a month or so ago, I still had Shockwave 9 installed. I'm sure I'm not alone in saying I have a good number of programs installed on my computer, and keeping track of which ones need updates is a real chore that I usually just (unwisely) ignore. But, then I found this great free program called Secunia PSI. Every week I just click "Scan" and it compares the software installed on my computer, including windows, with an online database, and reports anything that has known security vulnerabilities.

Comment Re:38 seconds? (Score 3, Informative) 191

You're confusing the different specs. USB 2.0 theoretically runs at 480Mb/s, while USB 3.0 theoretically runs at 4.8Gb/s. So at peak speed (4.8Gb/s = 0.6GB/s), you would transfer 5GB in just over 8 seconds. So it seems the estimate of 38 seconds is based on real-world speed, not theoretical. 5 GB in 38 seconds would translate into just over 1Gb/s.

Submission + - SPAM: Making Safer Lithium-ion Batteries

itwbennett writes: "Exploding iPhones may be a thing of the past. Researchers at Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) have developed a new polymer, STOBA (that's self-terminated oligomers with hyper-branched architecture to you and me) that is added to the cathode material inside a lithium-ion battery to keep them from overheating. 'Fires or explosions in these batteries are caused by short circuits,' said Wu Hung-chun, a researcher at ITRI, explaining that even minor mishandling such as dropping the handset could result in damage causing a short circuit. 'The technology is ready for lithium-ion batteries used in electronic devices, mobile phones, laptops,' said Wu. And ITRI has started testing STOBA on electric car batteries."
Link to Original Source

Comment Environmental Concerns (Score 2, Insightful) 194

Raising the temperature of a body of water by even a few degrees can have disastrous consequences; from outright killing species, to producing algal blooms that deplete oxygen levels (and then kill species). I mean, think about it. Water resists temperature change much more than air, so a sudden increase is bad news to creatures that just aren't made to deal with it. Also, a recent study has found that increased carbon dioxide levels are making marine life more susceptible to fluctuating temperature and oxygen levels.

But, of course, just one place in the ocean using this method isn't going to have that much effect. It's if and when this cooling strategy starts to catch on that we have to worry about affecting our environment, and weigh the consequences of air conditioning (fossil fuel emissions) versus heat pollution.

Comment Not all that original... (Score 1) 492

There was recently a show on Discovery Channel called "Discovery Project Earth" where they investigated different geo engineering solutions. One of them was spraying water into the air in order to make clouds reflect more sunlight. This idea is headed by physicist John Latham and engineer Stephen Salter.

See Discovery Project Earth, a Brighter Earth for some more details.

Comment Re:Some random observations (Score 5, Funny) 649

* Google is really bad for Silicon Valley. Too much of the top talent in the area is now working for Google, doing almost completely useless stuff, and it's not healthy for the industry. I predict that when Google comes crashing down (and it will - anyone who has seen the ridiculous excess of the Google campus cannot help but realize this)

So I guess they didn't accept your job application, uh?

Comment Honestly, now... (Score 5, Insightful) 642

Do they really think those 38 hours bought them anything? Do they honestly believe that their profits would have been reduced had a crappy cam recording been available 38 hours earlier? I'm sorry, but I'm just not capable of managing that level of suspension of disbelief. Seems more like a set-up for a later date in Congress where movie execs get to testify that they spent $x million to stave off the camming and all they were able to manage was 38 hours. I wonder just how dedicated they were to these "delaying tactics."

Feed Science Daily: Undersea Volcanic Rocks Offer Vast Repository For Greenhouse Gas, Says Study (sciencedaily.com)

A group of scientists has used deep ocean-floor drilling and experiments to show that volcanic rocks off the West Coast and elsewhere might be used to securely imprison huge amounts of globe-warming carbon dioxide captured from power plants or other sources. In particular, they say that natural chemical reactions under 78,000 square kilometers (30,000 square miles) of ocean floor off California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia could lock in as much as 150 years of US carbon dioxide production.

Feed Science Daily: 89 Percent Of Children's Food Products Provide Poor Nutritional Quality, Study F (sciencedaily.com)

Most kids' foods provide poor nutritional quality, but packaging claims and healthy images could be misleading parents, according to a new study. Researchers used US guidelines to review 367 products. 70 percent of the products had higher than recommended sugar levels, 23 percent had high fat levels and 17 percent had high salt levels. But 62 percent of them still make health claims on the packaging.

Feed Science Daily: Closing Coal-fired Power Plants Improves Cognitive Development Of Children, New (sciencedaily.com)

Closing coal-fired power plants can have a direct, positive impact on children's cognitive development and health according to a new study. The study allowed researchers to compare the development of two groups of children born in Tongliang, China -- one in utero while a coal-fired power plant was operating in the city and one in utero after the Chinese government had closed the plant.

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