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Could We Find a Door To A Parallel Universe? 327

Posted by Zonk from the alternate-me-is-posting-this-in-esperanto dept.
p1234 writes "Though no direct evidence for wormholes has been observed, this could be because they are disguised as black holes. Now Alexander Shatskiy of the Lebedev Physical Institute in Moscow, Russia, is suggesting a possible way to tell the two kinds of object apart. His idea assumes the existence of a bizarre substance called "phantom matter", which has been proposed to explain how wormholes might stay open. Phantom matter has negative energy and negative mass, so it creates a repulsive effect that prevents the wormhole closing. 'US expert Dr Lawrence Krauss, from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, points out that the idea rests on untested assumptions. He told New Scientist magazine: "It is an interesting attempt to actually think of what a real signature for a wormhole would be, but it is more hypothetical than observational. Without any idea of what phantom matter is and its possible interactions with light, it is not clear one can provide a general argument."'"
Media

Most Consumers Sitting Out The High-Def War 681

Posted by Zonk from the might-be-early-to-choose-sides dept.
The New York Times notes that, despite the increasing variety of programs on the Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats, most US consumers are staying out of the DVD format war. This is a wise decision, the article states, because the two formats are essentially at a stalemate. "The two camps are victims of their own earlier success with DVD. The standard DVDs offered a quantum leap in quality from the picture and sound of VHS videotape, and for many that was more than adequate. In addition, DVD players that can convert images to near high-definition quality can be found for under $100, hundreds less than a true high-definition DVD player, further reducing the urgency to upgrade to one of the new formats."

Feed Engadget: Microsoft pulls Vista from snooping offer (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Yesterday, we told you about an offer wherein you could completely sacrifice your privacy for a free software bundle from Microsoft which included Windows Vista Ultimate and Office Ultimate '07, amongst others. Well, apparently the big M has decided to pull the offer of free software -- but still wants to track your digital footsteps and pry into your private dealings. Here's Redmond's official line to those inquiring about the discontinued offer: "Thank you for your interest in the feedback program. Due to high volume, we have reached our 'while supplies last' limit and have closed our free product incentive on 12/11/2007 at 2pm." Needless to say, they'd still love to have a look at your browser history, emails, IM logs, crash reports, and blood type.

[Thanks, Jerry]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Sci-Fi

Some Moray Eels Have Two Sets of Jaws 158

Posted by kdawson from the one-was-bad-enough dept.
mikesd81 writes that the Mercury News reports that scientists at UC Davis have discovered that some eels have an extra set of jaws deep in their throats that launch forward into their mouths to help pull prey in. "'It looks like a funny pair of forceps with curved sharp teeth,' said evolutionary biologist Rita Mehta, lead author of the research, which appears Thursday in Nature. Before the discovery, scientists thought that all aquatic predators swallowed their prey using suction. By dropping the lower jaw and creating a flow of water into their mouths, they draw in the prey. The two species of moray eels studied by Mehta and Wainwright are the first examples of an alternative feeding method. Instead of sucking, one of these eels bites its prey with its primary set of teeth. It then draws the second set of teeth into its mouth by contracting long muscles. The secondary jaws clamp down on the prey, allowing the eel to move its primary jaws forward in a gulping motion to take in more of the prey. The two sets of jaws take turns until the whole animal has been swallowed." mikesd81 adds a link to a YouTube video of an eel eating, noting "If you look closely right around 34 seconds you can see what looks like the other set of jaws chewing."
Intel

Submission + - Intel Updates vPro Platform and Features (hothardware.com)

Submitted by
MojoKid
MojoKid writes: "Intel's has certified the Core 2 Duo E6550, E6750 and E6850 processors for vPro, and is releasing the new low-power Q35 Express chipset with a companion ICH9-DO Southbridge, and 82566DM Gigabit Network controller. With these new chispets and technologies, the vPro platform offers next-generation Intel Active Management Technology, enhanced Intel Virtualization Technology, and Intel Trusted Execution Technology (aka Intel TXT). vPro also offers support for next-generation management standards like WS-MAN and DASH (draft 1.0 spec) and support for v1.2 of the Trusted Platform Module. Intel has plans to provide continual updates to the vPro platform and will likely enhance vPro further after the launch of their "Montevina" platform in the first half on 2008."

Feed Newsforge: Keeping Opera bookmarks in sync with oSync (linux.com)

From feed by nffeed
If you use the Opera browser on multiple machines, you'll inevitably run into the problem of keeping your bookmarks in sync. While you can store your bookmarks using services like del.icio.us, you might want to opt for oSync -- a synchronization utility that has a couple of clever features besides the ability to keep bookmarks and notes in sync.
Software

Humans Can Still Out-Bluff Machines 279

Posted by Zonk from the for-now dept.
Pcol writes "The New York Times reports that in a poker game this week between man and machine, a program called Polaris fought a close match, but lost to two well-known professional poker players. Designing a poker playing algorithm is a different and more difficult challenge for software designers than chess and checkers because of uncertainties introduced by the hidden cards held by each player and difficult-to-quantify risk-taking behaviors such as bluffing. The game-tree approach doesn't work in poker because in many situations there is no one best move and a top-notch player adapts his play over time, exploiting his opponent's behavior. Polaris build a series of "bots" that have differing personalities or styles of play, ranging from aggressive to passive. Researchers monitored the performance of three bots and then moved them in and out of the lineup like football players."
Security

Security Flaw Found That Allows Control of iPhone 176

Posted by Zonk from the there's-always-a-catch dept.
i_like_spam writes "The NYTimes is running a story about an iPhone flaw that has been found and documented by researchers from Independent Security Evaluators. Attackers were able to gain full control of the iPhone either through WiFi or by visiting a website with malicious code. The exploit will be demonstrated at BlackHat on Aug. 2nd at 4:45pm. Until then, 'details on the vulnerability, but not a step-by-step guide to hacking the phone, can be found at www.exploitingiphone.com, which the researchers said would be unveiled today.'"
Mozilla

Submission + - Mozilla exec claims Apple is hunting open source

Submitted by Rob
Rob writes: Apple chief Steve Jobs expects to do more than lure Internet Explorer users to Apple's forthcoming version of Safari for Windows — he envisions a duopoly within the browser market at the expense of FireFox and others, according to Mozilla COO John Lilly. Lilly pointed to a pie graph representing the browser market that Jobs showed at last week's Apple developers' conference. The graph was made up with just two browsers: Safari and Internet Explorer. The graph "betrays the way that Apple, so often looks at the world," Lilly said. "But make no mistake: this wasn't a careless presentation, or an accidental omission of all the other browsers out there, or even a crummy marketing trick," he said. "Lots of words describe Steve and his Stevenotes, but 'careless' and 'accidental' do not. This is, essentially, the way they're thinking about the problem, and shows the users they want to pick up."

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