jczerwinski - Slashdot User

"Farming" Amoebas Discovered 49

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday January 20, 2011 @02:41PM from the rise-of-amoeba-agriculture dept.

Researchers from Rice University have found a type of amoeba that practices a sort of "primitive farming behavior." When their bacteria food become scarce, the Dictyostelium discoideum will group together and form a "fruiting body" that will disperse bacteria spores to a new area. From the article: "The behavior falls short of the kind of 'farming' that more advanced animals do; ants, for example, nurture a single fungus species that no longer exists in the wild. But the idea that an amoeba that spends much of its life as a single-celled organism could hold short of consuming a food supply before decamping is an astonishing one. More than just a snack for the journey of dispersal, the idea is that the bacteria that travel with the spores can 'seed' a new bacterial colony, and thus a food source in case the new locale should be lacking in bacteria." It's good to know that even a single celled creature is not immune to the pull of Farmville.

7 Scientific Reasons a Zombie Outbreak Would Fail 320

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday August 19, 2010 @07:40PM from the gasoline-and-head-shots dept.

Whether they spoil in the heat, freeze in the winter, or get taken out by a human-friendly venue of vultures, a zombie outbreak is unlikely to succeed. Here's 7 reasons why we should stop worrying about the shambling dead and start concentrating on a real threat: sparkly vampires.

How a Key Enzyme Repairs Sun-Damaged DNA 97

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday July 27, 2010 @03:58AM from the one-proton-and-one-electron dept.

BraveHeart writes "Researchers have long known that mammals, including humans, lack a key enzyme — one possessed by most of the animal kingdom and even plants — that reverses severe sun damage. For the first time, researchers have witnessed how this enzyme works at the atomic level to repair sun-damaged DNA. 'Normal sunscreen lotions convert UV light to heat, or reflect it away from our skin. A sunscreen containing photolyase could potentially heal some of the damage from UV rays that get through.'"

PC Gamers Too Good For Consoles Gamers? 324

Posted by Soulskill on Friday July 23, 2010 @05:35PM from the commence-flame-war-now dept.

thsoundman sends in a blog post from Rahul Sood, CTO of HP's gaming business, who claims there was once a project in development at Microsoft to let Xbox users compete against PC users playing the same game. According to Sood, the project was killed because the console players kept getting destroyed by their PC counterparts. He wrote, "Those of us who have been in the gaming business for over a decade know the real deal. You simply don't get the same level of detail or control as you do with a PC over a console. It's a real shame that Microsoft killed this — because had they kept it alive it might have actually increased the desire of game developers and gamers alike to continue developing and playing rich experiences on the PC, which would trickle down to the console as it has in the past."

Comment Re:Because we all know (Score 1) 1565

by jczerwinski on Sunday September 02, 2007 @06:03PM (#20445713) Attached to: Why Are So Many Nerds Libertarians?

And why in God's name should your teacher give you any respect? Your self-righteous attitude is, in my opinion, one of the main problems with youth culture today. As a child, it is highly unlikely you have done anything worthwhile. There is simply no reason why any responsible adult should give you (as a child) any "respect" at all. So you were smart. Big deal. Intelligence, by itself, is not that important -- it only provides potential. While it is a common amongst the youth to feel that their innate abilities and potential somehow deserve accolades and celebration, most learn quickly upon entering adulthood that accomplishment counts for far more. What saddens me is that, years after you have left physical childhood behind, you still think like a child.

Wow. This is likely the most ill informed, self righteous, arrogant post I have ever read. You claim someone is self righteous for demanding respect from teachers? By your logic, a janitor deserves no respect from the CEO of the corporation for which he works because the janitor hasn't "done anything worthwhile with his life". Your position is one of bald elitism.

Further, the original poster was not asking for celebration or accolades. He was asking for an academic challenge. He was also describing his answer to the topic of this thread - that of nerds being libertarians. His discussion of the qualities that lead him to his libertarian attitudes was on topic, valid, and thoughtful. The qualities he described are exactly those that lead someone to earn respect. And other people who understand that will respect him for it.

Your stereotyping of "the youth" is ridiculously biased and lacks any credibility. If anything, we need teachers to view their job as fostering the kinds of attitudes displayed by the original poster, and striving to suppress attitudes such as yours to the utmost extent possible. Curiosity, personal responsibility, self respect, and critical thinking are among the most valuable traits young students can develop. Of course, hard work is a very important part of the equation. And I'm sure the original poster would agree - however, hard work without thoughtfulness is like running in circles. And young people SHOULD be learning that. The original poster did not stress the importance of hard work because it was not relevant to the topic - traits that foster libertarian attitudes.

Your post is off topic, reeks of attitude, and irrelevant.

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