mredar - Slashdot User

The Proton Just Got Smaller 289

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday July 08, 2010 @12:00PM from the size-does-matter dept.

inflame writes "A new paper published in Nature has said that the proton may be smaller than we previously thought. The article states 'The difference is so infinitesimal that it might defy belief that anyone, even physicists, would care. But the new measurements could mean that there is a gap in existing theories of quantum mechanics. "It's a very serious discrepancy," says Ingo Sick, a physicist at the University of Basel in Switzerland, who has tried to reconcile the finding with four decades of previous measurements. "There is really something seriously wrong someplace."' Would this indicate new physics if proven?"

A Flood of Stable Linux Kernels Released 105

Posted by timothy on Wednesday July 07, 2010 @04:11PM from the five-is-better-than-one dept.

Julie188 writes "Greg Kroah-Hartman has released five new stable Linux kernels, correcting minor errors of their predecessors and including improvements which are unlikely to generate new errors. As so often with kernel versions in the stable series, it remains undisclosed if the new versions contain changes which fix security vulnerabilities, although the number of changes and some of the descriptions of those changes certainly suggest that all the new versions contain security fixes."

Things You Drink Can Be Used To Track You 202

Posted by timothy on Thursday July 01, 2010 @02:40PM from the don't-hate-me-because-I'm-a-beautiful-spy dept.

sciencehabit writes with an intriguing story about the potential of figuring out where people have been by examining their hair: "That's because water molecules differ slightly in their isotope ratios depending on the minerals at their source. Researchers found that water samples from 33 cities across the United State could be reliably traced back to their origin based on their isotope ratios. And because the human body breaks down water's constituent atoms of hydrogen and oxygen to construct the proteins that make hair cells, those cells can preserve the record of a person's travels. Such information could help prosecutors place a suspect at the scene of a crime, or prove the innocence of the accused." Or frame someone by slipping them water from every country on the terrorist watchlist.

Ranking Soccer Players By Following the Bouncing Ball 142

Posted by timothy on Thursday June 17, 2010 @06:22PM from the well-it-ain't-baseball dept.

sciencehabit excerpts from an interesting report on statistics for soccer, in the stats-obsessed world of sports: "Only a handful of soccer ranking systems exist, most of which rely on limited information: the number of goals scored in a match, the number of goals assisted, and some indices of a match's difficulty and importance. ... So researchers turned to an unlikely source: social networks. Applying the kinds of mathematical techniques used to map Facebook friends and other networks, the team created software that can trace the ball's flow from player to player. As the program follows the ball, it assigns points for precise passing and for passes that ultimately lead to a shot at the goal. Whether the shot succeeds doesn't matter. Only the ball's flow toward the goal and each player's role in getting it there factors into the program's point system, which then calculates a skill index for each team and player."

Geologists Might Be Charged For Not Predicting Quake 375

Posted by timothy on Wednesday June 16, 2010 @05:05PM from the google-will-no-doubt-be-found-at-fault dept.

mmmscience writes "In 2009, a series of small earthquakes shook the region of L'Aquila, Italy. Seismologists investigated the tremors, but concluded that there was no direct indication of a big quake on the horizon. Less than a month later, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake killed more than 300 people. Now, the chief prosecutor of L'Aquila is looking to charge the scientists with gross negligent manslaughter for not predicting the quake."

New Estimate Suggests 5.5M Species On Earth, Not 30-100M 256

Posted by timothy on Wednesday June 02, 2010 @11:28AM from the depends-how-you-count dept.

An anonymous reader writes "How many species share our planet? According to a recalculation by an international research team, the number is significantly lower than we thought — only around 5.5 million."

The Race To Beer With 50% Alcohol By Volume 297

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday June 02, 2010 @09:18AM from the good-stiff-12-pack dept.

ElectricSteve writes "Most of the world's beer has between 4% and 6% alcohol by volume (ABV). The strength of beer achieved by traditional fermentation brewing methods has limits, but a well-crafted beer that is repeatedly 'freeze distilled' can achieve exquisite qualities and much higher alcohol concentrations. An escalation in the use of this relatively new methodology over the last 12 months has seen man's favorite beverage suddenly move into the 40+% ABV realm of spirits such as gin, rum, brandy, whiskey, and vodka, creating a new category of extreme beer. The world's strongest beer was 27% ABV, but amidst an informal contest to claim the title of the world's strongest beer, the top beer has jumped in strength dramatically. This week Gizmag spoke to the brewers at the center of the escalating competition. New contestants are gathering, and the race is now on to break 50% alcohol by volume."

Comment Simply the best argument for open source (Score 1) 766

by mredar on Tuesday September 14, 2004 @10:50AM (#10245917) Attached to: Batch-o-Moz: Firefox, Thunderbird, Suite Released

Firefox is the single best argument for open source projects I've found. This browser kicks ass!!!! I've been able to convert quite a few people off IE and onto Firefox--once they saw the speed of FF and the tab & search features. Many of these people tried netscape or mozilla but were dissatified with the performance, Firefox addressed that and kicks IE's butt!!

When people say open source doesn't work, I show them Firefox!

Thanks to all the people who work on this excellent browser!

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