Follow Slashdot blog updates by subscribing to our blog RSS feed

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror

Comment Princess and scientist are not mutually exclusive! (Score 1) 584

by airnewt (#48530395) Attached to: Programmer Father Asks: What Gets Little Girls Interested In Science?

Why can't a scientist be a princess?

Perhaps this is part of the problem with the shortage of women in STEM. We tell girls they need to make a choice, they can either be girly and feminine or be an engineer. What woman or girl wants to be the stereotypical geek they see on TV? An antisocial person that stays at home in the basement eating burritos and playing on the computer? Does this mean she has no place in the technology fields? NO.

If a woman wants to work in the lab all day, then go put on a dress and go out for a night on the town, then great! The problem is, that is not how we as a society picture a scientist or engineer.
Power

Laser Fusion's Brightest Hope 115

Posted by samzenpus from the coming-together dept.
First time accepted submitter szotz writes "The National Ignition Facility has one foot in national defense and another in the future of commercial energy generation. That makes understanding the basic justification for the facility, which boasts the world's most powerful laser system, more than a little tricky. This article in IEEE Spectrum looks at NIF's recent missed deadline, what scientists think it will take for the facility to live up to its middle name, and all of the controversy and uncertainty that comes from a project that aspires to jumpstart commercial fusion energy but that also does a lot of classified work. NIF's national defense work is often glossed over in the press. This article pulls in some more detail and, in some cases, some very serious criticism. Physicist Richard Garwin, one of the designers of the hydrogen bomb, doesn't mince words. When it comes to nuclear weapons, he says in the article, '[NIF] has no relevance at all to primaries. It doesn't do a good job of mimicking secondaries...it validates the codes in regions that are not relevant to nuclear weapons.'"
Mars

4-Billion-Pixel Panorama View From Curiosity Rover 101

Posted by samzenpus from the take-a-look dept.
A reader points out that there is a great new panorama made from shots from the Curiosity Rover. "Sweep your gaze around Gale Crater on Mars, where NASA's Curiosity rover is currently exploring, with this 4-billion-pixel panorama stitched together from 295 images. ...The entire image stretches 90,000 by 45,000 pixels and uses pictures taken by the rover's two MastCams. The best way to enjoy it is to go into fullscreen mode and slowly soak up the scenery — from the distant high edges of the crater to the enormous and looming Mount Sharp, the rover's eventual destination."

Comment Trinity Site (Score 4, Informative) 363

by airnewt (#38157478) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Science Sights To See?
Depending on when you go, you can also go to the Trinity site on White Sands where the first atomic bomb was tested. They open it up only twice a year on the first Saturday in April and October. If you are already down in New Mexico for the VLA there is the National Solar Observatory near Alamogordo.

Slashdot Top Deals

In a five year period we can get one superb programming language. Only we can't control when the five year period will begin.

Close