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China

China Building World's Biggest Radio Telescope 121

Posted by samzenpus from the bigger-and-better dept.
Zothecula writes "Since its completion in 1963, the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, with a diameter of 305 m (1,000 ft) and a collecting area of 73,000 square meters (790,000 sq ft), has been the largest single-aperture radio telescope ever constructed. But Arecibo is set to lose its title with construction now underway in Guizhou Province in southern China of the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST). Upon its expected completion in 2016, FAST will be able to see more than three times further into space and survey the skies ten times faster than Arecibo."

Comment Re:The article != the actual NASA press release (Score 1) 184

by Xinvoker (#35088702) Attached to: NASA Finds Family of Habitable Planets

This is the press release you are looking for: http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2011/feb/HQ_11-030_Kepler_Update.html

5 Earth-sized *candidates* in the habitable zone. Not confirmed as planets, and not confirmed as habitable. But I seem to recall about 70% of the candidates are eventually confirmed as planets, so there is a good chance at least the 1st part will be true.
The Internet

Look Forward To Per-Service, Per-Page Fees 400

Posted by timothy from the wireless-exemption dept.
An anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from Wired: "[Two] companies, Allot Communications and Openet — suppliers to large wireless companies including AT&T and Verizon — showed off a new product in a web seminar Tuesday, which included a PowerPoint presentation (1.5-MB .pdf) that was sent to Wired by a trusted source. The idea? Make it possible for your wireless provider to monitor everything you do online and charge you extra for using Facebook, Skype or Netflix. For instance, in the seventh slide of the above PowerPoint, a Vodafone user would be charged two cents per MB for using Facebook, three euros a month to use Skype and $0.50 monthly for a speed-limited version of YouTube."
Businesses

American Business Embraces 'Gamification' 109

Posted by Soulskill from the level-up-your-reward-points dept.
Hugh Pickens writes "JP Mangalindan writes that for years psychologists have studied what makes video games so engrossing — why do players spend hours accruing virtual points working towards intangible rewards and what characteristics make some games more addictive than others? Now, companies are realizing that 'gamification' — using the same mechanics that hook gamers — is an effective way to generate business. For example, when Nike released Nike + in 2008, it 'gamified' exercise. 'Place the pedometer in a pair of (Nike) sneaks and it monitors distance, pace and calories burned, transmitting that data to the user's iPod. The Nike software loaded on the iPod will then "reward" users if they reach a milestone,' writes Mangalindan. 'If a runner beats his 5-mile distance record, an audio clip from Tour de France cycling champ Lance Armstrong congratulates him.' In addition, users can upload their information, discuss achievements online with other users, and challenge them to distance or speed competitions. The result: to date, Nike has moved well over 1.3 million Nike + units."

Comment Re:Gates Foundation (Score 1) 286

by Xinvoker (#33414126) Attached to: Bill Gates Enrolls His Kids In Khan Academy

I had the same doubts as well. But if you watch Gates' TED speech, and also this speech http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_on_global_population_growth.html which includes a very nice moving bubble chart you will see that (apparently) as the child mortality improves, people have less children. In other words, when children die by the dozens, people overcompensate for that by having more of them. Gates is essentially trying to "hack" the system by improving child mortality and _fixing_ overpopulation.

BTW, in a recent conversation, i was said "skeptical guy", but after seeing that chart i changed my mind. Do watch that speech, it's very interesting.
PC Games (Games)

Blizzard Boss Says Restrictive DRM Is a Waste of Time 563

Posted by Soulskill from the what-about-lan-play dept.
Stoobalou writes "Blizzard co-founder Frank Pearce reckons that fighting piracy with DRM is a losing battle. His company — which is responsible for one of the biggest video games of all time, the addictive online fantasy role player World of Warcraft — is to release StarCraft 2 on July 27, and Pearce has told Videogamer that the title won't be hobbled with the kind of crazy copy protection schemes that have made Ubisoft very unpopular in gaming circles of late. StarCraft 2 will require a single online activation using the company's Battle.net servers, after which players will be allowed to play the single-player game to their hearts' content, without being forced to have a persistent Internet connection."
Government

Dell To Leave China For India 352

Posted by timothy from the in-these-troubled-economic-times dept.
halfEvilTech writes "India's Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, told the Indian press that Dell chairman Michael Dell assured him that Dell was moving $25 billion in factories from China to India. Original motives were cited for environmental concerns. But later details come up as to Dell wanting a 'safer environment conductive to enterprise.'"

Submission + - NYTimes Offers Look into Chinese Hacker Underworld

Submitted by beachels416
beachels416 writes: The NYTimes has gained access to a Chinese hacker-for-profit, referred to as Majia, and observed him during one of his nightly "sessions." From the article: "Oddly, Majia said his parents did not know that he was hacking at night. But at one point, he explained the intricacies of computer hacking and stealing data while his mother stood nearby, listening silently, while offering a guest oranges and candy." Additionally, at one point he speaks about the recent Google attacks, and claims to have particular knowledge of the exact vector used. Nothing too new, but an interesting read nevertheless.

Comment Robo-shark! (Score 1) 115

by Xinvoker (#30964242) Attached to: Evolving Robots Learn To Prey On Each Other
It's worth noting that the robot in the experiment where they evolved the bodies as well, in order to run faster, looks like a shark, with a tail and 2 fins. Fascinating. If they could do the same experiment with the ability to walk instead of only crawling (see video http://www.plosbiology.org/article/fetchSingleRepresentation.action?uri=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pbio.1000292.s006 to see what i'm talking about ) and make them do something that requires hands such as lifting something up, we could see if the optimal forms were humanoid, centaur-like, spider-like etc.

Comment I know it's blasphemy but... (Score 1) 115

by Xinvoker (#30963792) Attached to: Evolving Robots Learn To Prey On Each Other
worth RTF'ing for a better idea of how this is done (btw, they are the same robots that were taught to "deceive" other robots about where the "food" is). Plus, the video of the Predator/Prey stalemate is just epic! As for the 3rd video (maze navigation), man, i would have blown these 1st gen robots to pieces before they could say Darwin!
Space

Astronomers Discover the Coolest Known Sub-Stellar Body 60

Posted by Soulskill from the miles-davis's-home-planet dept.
Hugh Pickens writes "Science Daily reports that using the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) in Hawaii, astronomers have discovered what may be the coolest sub-stellar body ever found outside our own solar system. Too small to be stars and with insufficient mass to maintain hydrogen-burning nuclear fusion reactions in their cores, 'brown dwarfs' have masses smaller than stars but larger than gas giant planets like Jupiter, with an upper limit in between 75 and 80 Jupiter masses. 'This looks like the fourth time in three years that the UKIRT has made a record breaking discovery of the coolest known brown dwarf, with an estimated temperature not far above 200 degrees Celsius,' says Dr. Philip Lucas at the University of Hertfordshire. Due to their low temperature these objects are very faint in visible light, and are detected by their glow at infrared wavelengths. The object known as SDSS1416+13B is in a wide orbit around a somewhat brighter and warmer brown dwarf, SDSS1416+13A, and the pair is located between 15 and 50 light years from the solar system, which is quite close in astronomical terms."

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