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Comment Re:Cant wait (Score 1) 170

It's not that a day (in any sense) varies between 58.7 and 176 (Earth days), it's that those numbers are measurements for different definitions of day. Mercury's sidereal day, the time it takes Mercury to make a complete rotation (with respect to the background stars), is 58.7 days. The length of Mars' solar day, the time it takes to for the sun to cross the same meridian on Mercury (or the time it takes to reach the same place in the sky from the perspective of someone standing at a fixed point on Mercury) is 176 days. This notion is a little strange when you first hear about it, because the distinction is much narrower here on Earth: Our solar day is (very close to) the usual 24 hours, but our sidereal day is about four minutes shorter. (The difference on Mercury is so much larger than it is here because Earth's orbital period -- how long it takes to complete one trip around the sun -- is more than two orders of magnitude larger than its sidereal day. By contrast, on Mercury those quantities are comparable.)
Communications

First Nations Want Cellphone Revenue 513

Peacenik45 writes "The CBC is reporting that First Nations in Manitoba want compensation for every cell phone signal that passes through their land because it violates their airspace. The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs recently resolved to negotiate revenue sharing with Manitoba Telecom Services. Ovide Mercredi of the Grand Rapids First Nations says "When it comes to using airspace, it's like using our water and simply because there's no precedent doesn't mean that it's not the right thing to do." This move may inspire First Nations in other provinces to follow suit."
Security

E-Voting Reform Bill Gaining Adherants 161

JeremyDuffy sends us to Ars Technica for a look at an e-voting bill making its way through Congress that is gaining the support of the likes of Ed Felten and the EFF. Quoting: "HR 811 features several requirements that will warm the hearts of geek activists. It bans the use of computerized voting machines that lack a voter-verified paper trail. It mandates that the paper records be the authoritative source in any recounts, and requires prominent notices reminding voters to double-check the paper record before leaving the polling place. It mandates automatic audits of at least three percent of all votes cast to detect discrepancies between the paper and electronic records. It bans voting machines that contain wireless networking hardware and prohibits connecting voting machines to the Internet. Finally, it requires that the source code for e-voting machines be made publicly available."
United States

Submission + - Harvard Physicists Bring Light to a Complete Halt

tetrikphimvin writes: "In a quantum mechanical sleight of hand, Harvard physicists have shown that they can not only bring a pulse of light, the fleetest of nature's particles, to a complete halt, but also resuscitate the light at a different location and let it continue on its way.
"It's been a wonderful problem to try to wrap your brain around," said Lene Vestergaard Hau, a professor of physics at Harvard and senior author of a paper describing the experiment that appears today in the journal Nature. "There are so many doors that open up." This is also noted in Harvard's Gazette here, which includes video links."
Games

'Over 30' Section For Games Stores? 220

A New York law introduced by Representative Keith Wright seeks just that, a section for gaming stores that keeps 'violent games' under lock and key, and is accessible only to people over 30. The law is one of two poorly-thought pieces of legislation being considered by New York state's legal system. From the 1up article: "The history of the courts striking down such legislation goes just about as far back as politicians who attempt to bolster their own image by capitalizing on the public fear and hysteria over the bogeyman of video gaming. It's interesting to note that recently, courts have begun penalizing entities who purposely waste their time with attempts at passing frivolous and unconstitutional anti-videogame legislation. You'd think might deter motions like [these] somewhat, wouldn't you?" Update: 01/19 04:10 GMT by Z : As ahecht points out in the comments 1up has things wrong here. There is only one bill, and it restricts violent games from being sold to those under 18 only. Line 5 of the bill's text is the section in question.

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