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Comment Re:From someone who does Genetic Testing (Score 1) 268

by MrSpiff (#31035802) Attached to: Routine DNA Tests For Newborns Mean Looming Privacy Problems

This has been done before. In 2003, the swedish minister of foreign affairs, Anna Lindh, was murdered in a shopping mall. Once the police had a suspect and samples of his hair, they requested a DNA sample from a national blood bank containing samples from all newborns since 1975 and matched it. The blood bank was originally set up for research only but has since been used in this high profile murder case and for identifying victims of the 2004 tsunami. There's an ongoing investigation on making the entire blood bank available to police authorities, meaning 3,3 million blood samples will be available for matching.
Earth

Drilling Hits an Active Magma Chamber In Hawaii 251

Posted by timothy from the time-for-a-lava-luau dept.
Smivs writes "The BBC are reporting that drillers looking for geothermal energy in Hawaii have inadvertently put a well right into a magma chamber. Molten rock pushed back up the borehole several meters before solidifying, making it perfectly safe to study. Magma specialist Bruce Marsh says it will allow scientists to observe directly how granites are made. 'This is unprecedented; this is the first time a magma has been found in its natural habitat,' the Johns Hopkins University professor told BBC News. 'Before, all we had to deal with were lava flows; but they are the end of a magma's life. They're lying there on the surface, they've de-gassed. It's not the natural habitat.' It is hoped the site can now become a laboratory, with a series of cores drilled around the chamber to better characterise the crystallisation changes occurring in the rock as it loses temperature."
Software

Smart Self-Service Scales 279

Posted by kdawson from the ready-for-my-closeup-mr.-demille dept.
Roland Piquepaille writes "German researchers have developed intelligent self-service scales for supermarkets, able to recognize fruit or vegetables placed on them (photo). The scales automatically recognize the item being weighed and ask the customer to choose between only those icons that are relevant, such as various kinds of tomatoes. The scales are equipped with a camera and an image evaluation algorithm that compares the image of the item on the scale with images stored in its database. Store managers can add items to the database. The scales are now being tested in about 300 supermarkets across Europe."

Comment Re:what's with the porn hate? (Score 1) 381

by MrSpiff (#23946901) Attached to: Children Concerned By Parents' Web Habits

this is one example of why this might be problematic (from TFA):

"It seems that my dad is 'unfaithful'," wrote one 15-year-old boy.
"I read his MSN conversation log. I was just curious. And then I saw that he was talking to, like, young girls. And the disgusting part is that he's 53!
And they talk about sex and how they're going to meet and everything. It makes me want to puke. It really makes me feel bad.
I don't know if I should tell mum because I'm worried they'll get a divorce. Please, what should I do?"
Education

Helping Some Students May Harm High Achievers 1114

Posted by samzenpus from the stop-dragging-us-down dept.
palegray.net writes "According to a new study performed by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute in Washington, increased emphasis on helping students with a history of lower academic achievement results in lower performance for high achievers. This trend appears to be related to the No Child Left Behind Act. Essentially, programs designed to devote a large number of resources to assisting students who are deemed to be 'significantly behind' leave little room for encouraging continued academic growth for higher-performing students."
Moon

NASA Plans to Smash Spacecraft into the Moon 176

Posted by samzenpus from the hit-it-hard dept.
djasbestos writes "NASA is planning to smash a spacecraft into the Moon in order to look for hydrogen deposits in the poles. More notably, it will impact with significantly greater force (100x, per the article) than previous Moon collisions, such as by the Lunar Prospector and Smart-1 probes. Admiral Ackbar was unreachable for comment as to the exact location and size of the Moon's thermal exhaust port."

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