92496301
submission
dcblogs writes:
Enrollments in Computer Science are on a hockey stick trajectory and show no signs of slowing down. Stanford University declared computer science enrollments, for instance, went from 87 in the 2007-08 academic year to 353 in the recently completed year. It’s similar at other schools. Boston University, for instance, had 110 declared undergraduate computer science majors. This fall it will have more than 550. Prof. Mehran Sahami, who is the associate chair for education in the computer science department at Stanford, believes the enrollment trend will continue. “As the numbers bear out, the interest in computer science has grown tremendously and shows no signs of crashing,” said Sahami. But after the 2000 dot-com bust computer science enrollments fell dramatically and students soured on the degree. Could something like it happen again? Although there is some speculation of a bubble in tech, the academics believe too much has changed since that dot-com era in the economy.
38349195
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eldavojohn writes:
A recent peer reviewed paper and survey by Cliff Frohlich, of the University of Texas' Institute for Geophysics, reveals a correlation between an increase in earthquakes and the emergence of fracking sites in the Barnett Shale, Texas. To clarify, it is not the actual act of hydrofracking that induces earthquakes but more likely the final process of injecting wastewater into the site according to Oliver Boyd, a USGS seismologist. Boyd said, "Most, if not all, geophysicists expect induced earthquakes to be more likely from wastewater injection rather than hydrofracking. This is because the wastewater injection tends to occur at greater depth where earthquakes are more likely to nucleate. I also agree [with Frohlich] that induced earthquakes are likely to persist for some time (months to years) after wastewater injection has ceased." Frohlich added, "Faults are everywhere. A lot of them are stuck, but if you pump water in there, it reduces friction and the fault slips a little. I can't prove that that's what happened, but it's a plausible explanation." In the US alone this correlation has been noted several times.
38306315
submission
kodiaktau writes:
An article reported by the WSJ discusses why online media users are more rude online than they are in person. The story discusses some of the possible reasons being lowered inhibitions because there is formal social interaction. Other theories include feeling like reporting on a phone or other device is simply communicating with a "toy" which dehumanizes the conversation. Submitter's note: A dehumanized conversation has never happened on Slashdot in the last 15 years.
