Comment Gold? (Score 0) 262
Pretty much all of those advantages used to tout BTC are better achieved through a specie currency like gold.
Comment Alternative chat rooms (Score 1) 250
I've been using a skype text conference as an invite-only chat room for some of my online friends. Why not IRC? Because skype keeps track of all history and logs so you don't have to idle in the room 24/7 to see what people said when you were away. I have found nothing as convenient and suitable to our purposes. Now, I'm starting to worry about the future. Does anyone have a suggestion for a different system?
Comment China to lose even more money on high-speed rail? (Score 4, Insightful) 387
Their existing high speed rail lines are racking up serious debt. This plan to expand it is difficult to believe.
Comment You got trolled (Score 5, Interesting) 417
Googling the researcher's name and his institution only brings up this story. Looks like you someone successfully trolled slashdot.
Comment Mt Erebus? (Score 1) 363
One thing that I never got was how an volcano in Antartica actively emitting hydrogen chlorine cannot contribute to stratospheric chlorine. Anywhere else, HCl would just stick to a water droplet and rain down, but we are talking about the most arid continent on earth, with very little precipitation.
Comment Re:The TSA's math is real wrong. (Score 2) 199
Wrong. The specific technology in question: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backscatter_X-ray
Comment Climate Change (Score 0) 453
Climate change?
Comment Re:"Automatic" doesn't mean what you think it mean (Score 1) 309
The cartridge is called .45 ACP, Automatic Colt Pistol. It is understood by gun people that an automatic pistol is not full, but semi-automatic.
Comment Asimov's Profession (Score 2, Interesting) 133
Sounds like the first step towards Asimov's future of being educated by tape, because some people's brain patterns are suited to different professions.
Comment Bing (Score 5, Interesting) 124
They had to pay people to use their search engine?
Comment Light gas space cannon? (Score 1) 190
Could someone tell me if there is anything wrong with using a light gas cannon as the first two stages of a rocket as John Hunter proposes? Is the amount of propellant needed to fire the gun more than would be required by a traditional kerosene/LOX motor? It sounds to me like a space cannon would be an inexpensive way to launch non-living cargo mass. Has nobody invested in this sort of project because the space gun people all went to work for Saddam Hussein?
New Food-Growth Product a Bit Hairy 243
MeatBag PussRocket writes "An article from Marketplace.org reports, 'A Florida company has developed an all-natural product that it says could revolutionize how food is grown in the US. It's called Smart Grow, but it might be a tough sell. It's inexpensive. It eliminates the need for pesticides, so it's environmentally friendly, but it's human hair. Plant pathologists at the University of Florida have found the mats eliminate weeds better than leading herbicides and can also make plants grow up to 30 percent larger.'"
Comment Quantum Tunneling (Score 2, Informative) 137
It is not new at all that quantum tunneling is an important mechanism in the electron transport chain. The iron-sulfur centers are optimally positioned to optimize the tunneling rate of electrons between them. They knew about this several years ago, when I learned this in an undergrad biophysics class.
Comment Re:Hello, Eh, Can we have your Liver? (Score 1) 146
The FDA is an affront to medical freedom in the US. Like all regulatory agencies, it has formed a cartel with the businesses it was implemented to regulate. We are left with mainstream medical knowledge subject to lobbyists. The FDA pushes flawed studies as irrefutable science, dangerous drugs, and a diet not suited to humans.
Private, voluntary certification companies like Underwriters Laboratories have an incentive to be honest, because they will go out of business if discredited. Likewise, pharmaceutical companies need the certification of an outside party to gain and keep the trust of consumers. The FDA should not be that party. Unlike the UL, it is a government bureaucracy that does not need to maintain a good reputation to stay in power.
