96608
submission
Damien1972 writes:
A new technology using inflatable mirrors could dramatically cut the price of solar power to around $0.29 per watt, making the renewable energy source cost competitive with coal and other fossil fuels. The tensegrity-based concentrated photovoltaic system could open up vast areas of the United States for solar farming, whereby farmers could produce both agricultural products and clean energy. The technology has been developed by CoolEarth Solar, based in Livermore, CA.
96596
submission
anthemaniac writes:
A Russian satellite launch that went awry last year left a booster rocket loaded with fuel up there. Well, it exploded. Now there's more than 1,000 new pieces of space debris. An animation shows the debris seen from Australia. NASA says they're not worried about any of it hitting the space station or affecting the next shuttle launch.
95956
submission
Anonymous Cell Phone User writes:
Earlier today, I called a friend on my cell phone and was connected to "Tom", a stranger. I knew I didn't have the wrong number because my friend's number was saved in my phone. I tried the same number again and got my friend this time. My friend told me he had just gotten a call from somebody wanting to speak to Tom, but his caller ID had said that the call was from me. This has happened to me a few times, both when I tried calling somebody on a landline from my cell phone and also when somebody tried to call me on my cell phone from a landline (it might also have happened between two cell phones once, but I'm not sure about that). The information in the caller ID seems to always match the intended call, but the voices get switched. I have had this happen with a Cingular/ATT contract in the USA and with a Vodaphone pay-as-you-go card in Germany (different phones). I am wondering if this error is due to a limitation of the GSM protocol or how it's implemented. I'm hoping that there's some cell phone / telecommunications expert here that can shed some light on the issue. Can anybody here explain how/why these errors happen?
95932
submission
Londovir writes:
Recently our school board made the decision to block Wikipedia from our school district's WAN system. This was a complete block — there aren't even provisions in place for teachers or administrators to input a password to bypass the restriction.
The reason given was that Wikipedia (being user created and edited) did not represent a credible or reliable source of reference for schools.
My question is: should we block sites such as Wikipedia because students may be exposed to misinformation, or should we encourage sites such as Wikipedia as an outlet for students to investigate and determine validity of information? What's your opinion?
