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Robotics

Submission + - Self Healing Robots of Doom!

Submitted by
OshMan
OshMan writes: "University of Pennsylvania's ModLab is doing some interesting stuff with modular robots. In this case involving absolutely no weapons! An example clip on youtube shows one of their cluster robots re-assembling itself after being kicked apart . For more information about the program check out their site. So let the Borg and Terminator jokes begin!"
Power

Submission + - $1/Gallon 'Green Gasoline' Is Earth Day's Big News (popularmechanics.com)

Submitted by mattnyc99
mattnyc99 writes: We've gotten excited here about the startup that claims it can make $1/gallon ethanol out of anything from trash to tires. But we've also seen how cellulosic ethanol is a better option, and how ethanol demand in general is only adding to the worldwide food crisis. So what about $1/gallon gasoline? NSF-funded researchers at UMass Amherst just completed the first direct conversion from cellulose using a new method of hydrocarbon refining, which they claim can be commercialized within 5-10 years and essentially make fuel out of anything that grows. From the article: "We already have the infrastructure in place to distribute liquid fuels. We're using them to power transportation vehicles today, and I think that's what we'll be using in 10 years and in 50 years," Huber says. "And if you want a sustainable liquid transportation fuel, biomass is the only way to go."
Space

Submission + - Why the Milky Way's black hole is so quiescent (physorg.com)

Submitted by esocid
esocid writes: Using NASA, Japanese, and European X-ray satellites, a team of Japanese astronomers has discovered that our galaxy's central black hole let loose a powerful flare three centuries ago. The finding helps resolve a long-standing mystery: why is the Milky Way's black hole so quiescent? The black hole, known as Sagittarius A*, is a certified monster, containing about 4 million times the mass of our Sun. Yet the energy radiated from its surroundings is billions of times weaker than the radiation emitted from central black holes in other galaxies. X-ray pulses emanating from just outside the black hole take 300 years to traverse the distance between the central black hole and a large cloud known as Sagittarius B2, so the cloud responds to events that occurred 300 years earlier. "By observing how this cloud lit up and faded over 10 years, we could trace back the black hole's activity 300 years ago," says team member Katsuji Koyama of Kyoto University. "The black hole was a million times brighter three centuries ago. It must have unleashed an incredibly powerful flare."

Who knew black holes were supposed to be so bright?
Education

Submission + - Dealing with An IT Bully (earthweb.com)

Submitted by
jammag
jammag writes: ""You are an idiot." That was how I was greeted on an already gloomy, rainy Monday morning...The lovely human being who greeted me that morning was our VP of software development, Dirk." This first person account of dealing with a tech world geek-gone-bad presents some ideas for coping, IT style, but in the end the person just left. Isn't that often the best thing to do?"
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft discloses 14,000 pages of coding secrets (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by OrochimaruVoldemort
OrochimaruVoldemort writes: In an unbelieveable move, Microsoft has disclosed 14,000 pages of coding secrets. According to The Reigster: "This is Microsoft's latest effort to satisfy anti-trust concerns of the European Union, which is possibly a tougher adversary for the company than Google." Not suprising, seeing as how the EU is usually all over them. The article also mentioned that this will be done in three phases. "Between now and June it will garner feedback from the developer community. Then, at the end of June, Microsoft will publish the final versions of technical documentation — along with definitive patent licensing terms." Lets just hope those terms are pro open source.
Software

Submission + - VIA Announces New Open Source Driver Initiative (aselabs.com)

Submitted by
Aron Schatz
Aron Schatz writes: "VIA has announced that they will start a new site specifically for the development of open source drivers. Their press release states that they are interested in working with the community to provide better drivers which is a good thing. We need more companies like VIA, Intel, and AMD to provide information allowing the creation of free and open drivers. Nvidia should be next."
Software

Submission + - Feds lie about software piracy, terrorism link (computerworld.com)

Submitted by
Lucas123
Lucas123 writes: "Attorney General Michael Mukasey claims that terrorists sell pirated software as a way to finance their operations, without presenting a shred of evidence for his case. He's doing it to push through a controversial piece of intellectual property legislation that would increase IP penalties, increase police power, set up a new agency to investigate IP theft, and more, according to a Computerworld blog. "Criminal syndicates, and in some cases even terrorist groups, view IP crime as a lucrative business, and see it as a low-risk way to fund other activities," Mukasey told a crowd at the Tech Museum of Innovation last week."
Role Playing (Games)

Journal Journal: Shake-ups for Diablo universe, StarCraft II, WoW

Journal by PlatyPaul
Blizzard Entertainment, in an attempt to expand their icy grip on popular entertainment today, has announced a number of huge shake-ups.

First is the pending sales of Diablo loot pinatas, a fun new distraction for when you can pry yourself away from the computer. CAUTION: Keep away from children and child-like adults.
The Courts

Submission + - Large Hadron Collider sparks 'Doomsday' lawsuit 6

Submitted by smooth wombat
smooth wombat writes: In what can only be considered a bizarre court case, a former nuclear safety officer and others are suing the U.S. Department of Energy, Fermilab, the National Science Foundation and CERN to stop the use of the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) until its safety is reassessed. The plaintiffs cite three possible 'doomsday' scenarios which might occur if the LHC becomes operational: the creation of microscopic black holes which would grow and swallow matter, the creation of strangelets which, if they touch other matter, would convert that matter into strangelets or the creation of magnetic monopoles which could start a chain reaction and convert atoms to other forms of matter.

CERN will hold a public open house meeting on April 6 with word having been spread to some researchers to be prepared to answer questions on microscopic black holes and strangelets if asked.

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