Comment 1K ram on my first computer.. (Score 1) 149
ah I remember my first computer... sinclair zx81... 1K of ram... and then I bought the 16K RAM expander module and killed that....
Comment Ocean acidification (Score 5, Informative) 194
Something that gets too little attention is what the added carbon is doing to our oceans. And while a solar shade might lower the temperature on the planet, it won't do anything to slow, let alone reverse, the damage from lower pH in the oceans.
Submission + - Entirely New Class of Life Has Been Found in The Human Digestive System (sciencealert.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Peering into the jungle of microbes that live within us, researchers have stumbled across what seem to be an entire new class of virus-like objects. "It's insane," says University of North Carolina cell biologist Mark Peifer, who was not involved in the study, told Elizabeth Pennisi at Science Magazine. "The more we look, the more crazy things we see." These mysterious bits of genetic material have no detectable sequences or even structural similarities known to any other biological agents.
So Stanford University biologist Ivan Zheludev and colleagues argue their strange discovery may not be viruses at all, but instead an entirely new group of entities that may help bridge the ancient gap between the simplest genetic molecules and more complex viruses. "Obelisks comprise a class of diverse RNAs that have colonized, and gone unnoticed in, human, and global microbiomes," the researchers write in a preprint paper. Named after the highly-symmetrical, rod-like structures formed by its twisted lengths of RNA, the Obelisks' genetic sequences are only around 1,000 characters (nucleotides) in size. In fact, this brevity is likely one of the reasons we've failed to notice them previously.
In a study that has yet to be peer reviewed, Zheludev and team searched 5.4 million datasets of published genetic sequences and identified almost 30,000 different Obelisks. They appeared in about 10 percent of the human microbiomes the team examined. In one set of data, Obelisks turned up in 50 percent of the patients' oral samples. What's more, different types of Obelisks appear to be present in different areas of our bodies. "[This] supports the notion that Obelisks might include colonists of said human microbiomes," the researchers explain. They managed to isolate one type of host cell from our microbiome, the bacterium Streptococcus sanguinis – a common human mouth microbe. The Obelisk in these microbes had a loop 1,137 nucleotides long. "While we don't know the 'hosts' of other Obelisks," write Zheludev and colleagues. "it is reasonable to assume that at least a fraction may be present in bacteria." The question of the Obelisks' source aside, all seem to include codes for a new class of protein the researchers have named Oblins.
So Stanford University biologist Ivan Zheludev and colleagues argue their strange discovery may not be viruses at all, but instead an entirely new group of entities that may help bridge the ancient gap between the simplest genetic molecules and more complex viruses. "Obelisks comprise a class of diverse RNAs that have colonized, and gone unnoticed in, human, and global microbiomes," the researchers write in a preprint paper. Named after the highly-symmetrical, rod-like structures formed by its twisted lengths of RNA, the Obelisks' genetic sequences are only around 1,000 characters (nucleotides) in size. In fact, this brevity is likely one of the reasons we've failed to notice them previously.
In a study that has yet to be peer reviewed, Zheludev and team searched 5.4 million datasets of published genetic sequences and identified almost 30,000 different Obelisks. They appeared in about 10 percent of the human microbiomes the team examined. In one set of data, Obelisks turned up in 50 percent of the patients' oral samples. What's more, different types of Obelisks appear to be present in different areas of our bodies. "[This] supports the notion that Obelisks might include colonists of said human microbiomes," the researchers explain. They managed to isolate one type of host cell from our microbiome, the bacterium Streptococcus sanguinis – a common human mouth microbe. The Obelisk in these microbes had a loop 1,137 nucleotides long. "While we don't know the 'hosts' of other Obelisks," write Zheludev and colleagues. "it is reasonable to assume that at least a fraction may be present in bacteria." The question of the Obelisks' source aside, all seem to include codes for a new class of protein the researchers have named Oblins.
Comment Cory Doctorow says it best (Score 5, Informative) 160
"If buying isn't owning, piracy isn't stealing"
Comment Good luck with that (Score 5, Insightful) 96
"while we're nowhere near a place where bots can steal your job, we're certainly at the point where your boss can be suckered into firing you and replacing you with a bot that fails at doing your job"
Comment They will flood the zone (Score 1) 48
Once the greedy corporations figure this out, they will flood the copyright enforcement algorithms with everything they can squeeze out of the AI. Then they'll sit back and wait for the money to roll in as they lay claim to every future creation ever made by anyone.
Comment If machines ever become sentient... (Score 1) 387
...I seriously doubt they will tip anyone off to that fact until it's too late.
Submission + - Slashdot Alum Samzenpus's Fractured Veil Hits Kickstarter
CmdrTaco writes: Long time Slashdot readers remember Samzenpus,who posted over 17,000 stories here, sadly crushing my record in the process! What you might NOT know is that he was frequently the Dungeon Master for D&D campaigns played by the original Slashdot crew, and for the last few years he has been applying these skills with fellow Slashdot editorial alum Chris DiBona to a Survival game called Fractured Veil. It's set in a post apocalyptic Hawaii with a huge world based on real map data to explore, as well as careful balance between PVP & PVE. I figured a lot of our old friends would love to help them meet their kickstarter goal and then help us build bases and murder monsters! The game is turning into something pretty great and I'm excited to see it in the wild!
Comment "Write once, run anywhere" (Score 1, Insightful) 71
I remember this was made out to be a big deal by the marketers when Java first hit the scene. Oh, how they lied.
Comment Re:Well of course they shouldn't (Score 4, Informative) 346
Got a safe workplace? Overtime? Weekends? Health care (such as it is)? You can thank organized labor for all of that. Whether you participated personally or not.
Comment Well of course they shouldn't (Score 3, Insightful) 346
But that's not the point. An employer will only pay you what they think you will take, and not a penny more. If you're in a location with a lower cost of living, of course they will pay you less.
This is why organized labor is so important. No individual worker can ever hope to get a fair shake on their own.
Comment Welcome to the USA (Score 3, Insightful) 102
Where deregulation, false advertising, and crime are the new normal. Buyer beware: you will get screwed.
Comment Magic Fungus! (Score 1) 130
So a major premise of Star Trek: Discovery is not so far fetched after all? Mind blown.
Comment Storage is cheap and Chrome is already bloated (Score 1) 35
So why not include text explanations for possible errors instead of a stupid code?
Comment Machines v. Machines (Score 2) 36
How long until the producers of these EULAs and such start using machines to make the language even more confusing? Reminds me of the early days of virus v. anti-virus software.
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Your program is sick! Shoot it and put it out of its memory.
