cyman777 - Slashdot User

Submission + - Fukushima's Nuclear Signature Found In California Wine (technologyreview.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 19, 2018 @04:21PM

An anonymous reader writes: Is it possible to see the effects of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in California wines produced at the time? Today we get an answer, thanks to a study carried out by french pharmacologist Philippe Hubert and a couple of colleagues. “In January 2017, we came across a series of Californian wines (Cabernet Sauvignon) from vintage 2009 to 2012,” say Hubert and company. This set of wines provides the perfect test. The Fukushima disaster occurred on March 11, 2011. Any wine made before that date should be free of the effects, while any dating from afterward could show them. The team began their study with the conventional measurement of cesium-137 levels in the unopened bottles. That showed levels to be indistinguishable from background noise.

But the team was able to carry out more-sensitive tests by opening the wine and reducing it to ash by evaporation. This involves heating the wine to 100 degrees Celsius for one hour and then increasing the temperature to 500 degrees Celsius for eight hours. In this way, a standard 750-milliliter bottle of wine produces around four grams of ashes. The ashes were then placed in a gamma ray detector to look for signs of cesium-137. Using this method, Hubert and his colleagues found measurable amounts of cesium-137 above background levels in the wine produced after 2011. “It seems there is an increase in activity in 2011 by a factor of two,” conclude the team.

North Korea Develops Anti-Aging "Super Drink" 296

Posted by samzenpus on Monday June 07, 2010 @11:44AM from the can-full-of-wonder dept.

__roo writes "According to North Korea's official news agency, a drink produced by North Korea's Moranbong Carbonated Fruit Juice Joint Venture Company can cure aging and all disease. 'It, with effects of both preventive and curative treatment, helps improve mental and retentive faculties by multiplying brain cells. It also protects skin from wrinkles and black spots and prevents such geriatric diseases as cerebral hemorrhage, myocardium and brain infarction by removing acid effete matters in time.' It also has no side-effects." Last month North Korea announced its fusion breakthrough, and now it has a super drink. One can only imagine what wonders may come in July — perhaps self-buttering toast.

Comment Hope they dont get sick! (Score 1) 133

by cyman777 on Friday June 05, 2009 @08:23AM (#28220719) Attached to: First Zero-Gravity Wedding Planned

So if 45% of people get sick, either bride or groom or the minister will not make it through the ceremony... Qute from our beloved Wikipedia: The most common problem experienced by humans in the initial hours of weightlessness is known as space adaptation syndrome or SAS, commonly referred to as space sickness. Symptoms of SAS include nausea and vomiting, vertigo, headaches, lethargy, and overall malaise. The first case of SAS was reported by cosmonaut Gherman Titov in 1961. Since then, roughly 45% of all people who have flown in space have suffered from this condition. The duration of space sickness varies, but in no case has it lasted for more than 72 hours, after which the body adjusts to the new environment. NASA jokingly measures SAS using the "Garn scale", named for United States Senator Jake Garn, whose SAS during STS-51-D was the worst on record. Accordingly, one "Garn" is equivalent to the most severe possible case of SAS.[13] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weightlessness

Comment Have you ever tried to not be admin? (Score 2, Interesting) 420

by cyman777 on Thursday February 05, 2009 @08:35AM (#26735669) Attached to: Users' Admin Logins Make Most Windows Malware Worse

Many of MS own products do not work properly if you are not administrator. I tried this last with Win XP and office 2003 and had all kinds of issues. MS (!!) Office itself ended up no working properly. This was two years ago so I dont recall the specific errors I encountered. I still have to work with the same software so no further try to do this.

British Royal Navy Submarines Now Run Windows 725

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday December 18, 2008 @04:53AM from the deep-blue-screen dept.

meist3r writes "On his Government blog, Microsoft's Ian McKenzie announced today that the Royal Navy was ahead of schedule for switching their nuclear submarines to a customized Microsoft Windows solution dubbed 'Submarine Command System Next Generation (SMCS NG)' which apparently consists of Windows 2000 network servers and XP workstations. In the article, it is claimed that this decision will save UK taxpayers £22m over the next ten years. The installation of the new system apparently took just 18 days on the HMS Vigilant. According to the BAE Systems press release from 2005, the overall cost of the rollout was £24.5m for all eleven nuclear submarines of the Vanguard, Trafalgar and Swiftsure classes. Talk about staying with the sinking ship."

Comment Get an Apple Laptop (Score 1) 660

by cyman777 on Sunday September 21, 2008 @06:01PM (#25097157) Attached to: Fast-Booting Text-Editor Operating System?

boot it up.

Close lid.

Open lid and work. Immediately. No "resume". No wait. It just works.

Close lide.

The biggest advantage of MacBooks IMHO is that they have NO startup time when opening the lid. The battery stays OK with a closed lid for about 3 days, so no need to really boot up.

Slashdot Top Deals