teflon_king - Slashdot User

Submission + - Austria to pull out of CERN (google.com)

Submitted by andre.david on Friday May 08, 2009 @02:32AM

andre.david writes: From AFP: "Austria is pulling out of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), Science Minister Johannes Hahn announced Thursday, citing budget concerns.
The 20-million-euro (26.9-million-dollar) yearly membership in CERN [...] makes up 70 percent of the money available in Austria for participation in international institutes and could be better used to fund other European projects, he said.
Hahn said he hoped Austria could find "a new kind of cooperation" with CERN and described Vienna's withdrawal from the project as a "pause", noting that some 30 states were already working together with the Geneva-based centre without being members.
The newly-available funds will now allow Austria to take part in new European projects, boost its participation in old ones as well as help the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), the country's main organisation funding research."
Austrian particle physicists are not happy with this. From HEPHY, the Austrian Institute for High Energy Physics: "All of a surprise Johannes Hahn [...] announced that he wants to terminate the Austrian membership at CERN [...]. This [would] affect spin-off projects like the planned cancer treatment center MedAustron [...] which is dependent on collaborating with CERN [...]. Strangely enough this intention just arrives at a time where scientists are about to harvest the fruits of LHC [...]."
Will other countries follow suit?

Submission + - Guardian to close move to Twitter: April Fool? (technologyandbusiness.com.au)

Submitted by teflon_king on Wednesday April 01, 2009 @06:50AM

teflon_king writes: Today's April fool joke by the Guardian that the newspaper will close and be replaced by a Twitter service is certainly amusing. However, despite the well-aimed kick at the much-hyped message service, the joke may linger as more a commentary on a newspaper industry under pressure. This is reinforced by the Guardian's recent submission to the UK govt Digital Britain report which has a go at search engines and content aggregators like slashdot.

Submission + - Interview with the Author of "Mastering cat

Submitted by

Shlomi Fish

on Wednesday April 01, 2009 @01:57AM

Shlomi Fish writes: "O'Reilly is publishing a new book titled "Mastering cat", about the UNIX "cat" command. Here is an interview O'Reilly-Net conducted with the author about it. Read it to see if this book should be part of your bookshelf of technical books."

Submission + - ISO relevance questioned after OOXML appeals fail (idg.com.au)

Submitted by Cowards Anonymous on Wednesday September 03, 2008 @01:05AM

Cowards Anonymous writes: Countries whose appeals were dismissed regarding the ISO/IEC's approval of Microsoft's OOXML as an international standard are questioning the judgment and relevance of the ISO/IEC and the standards they approve. In a statement made at the Congresso Internacional Sociedade e Governo Electronico (CONSEGI) 2008 conference, representatives from three of the four countries that appealed against an April 1 vote to approve OOXML as a standard said they are "no longer confident" in the ability of both the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission to be vendor-neutral and open when it comes to setting technology standards.

Submission + - Timing technology behind Olympic record results (goodgearguide.com.au)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 21, 2008 @01:28AM

An anonymous reader writes: We've been on the edge of our seats cheering on the athletes at the Beijing Olympic games — but so often do athletes victories and defeats rely on accurate timing. As the athletes compete on the world stage behind the scenes technology records their results. This insightful interview with Omega's Christophe Berthaud — the company's 23rd time as official Olympic timekeeper — explores how far the technology has come since the first time it was used in 1932.

Submission + - Mars Lander's robot arm shuts down to save itself (idg.com.au)

Submitted by Cowards Anonymous on Tuesday July 15, 2008 @07:38PM

Cowards Anonymous writes: The robotic arm on the Mars Lander found itself in a tough position over the weekend. After receiving instructions for a movement that would have damaged its wrist, the robotic arm recognized the problem, tried to rectify it and then shut down before it could damage itself, according to Ray Arvidson, a co-investigator for the Mars Lander's robotic arm team and a professor at Washington University in St. Louis.

Submission + - E-voting activist optimistic (goodgearguide.com.au)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 06, 2008 @10:16PM

An anonymous reader writes: For more than a decade, Aviel "Avi" Rubin, a professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins University in the US and an e-voting activist, has been a vocal critic of e-voting systems. In this interview who talks about the recent US presidential primary election cycle and his thoughts on e-voting going into the November US elections.

Spacecraft to Fly Through Geyser Plumes On Saturn Moon 80

Posted by Zonk on Wednesday March 12, 2008 @03:24PM from the fueling-station-coming-soon dept.

Riding with Robots writes "Today the robotic Saturn probe Cassini will make its closest buzz ever over the surface of the enigmatic ice moon Enceladus, whose surprising giant water geysers hint at a hidden ocean of liquid water. The spacecraft will fly right through the tops of the geyser plumes in order to sample the material that originated beneath the surface. NASA is offering a video, interactive guide and image gallery in advance of the event."

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