Slashdot Mirror

JoN writes "The BBC is running an article about why cold pizza tastes '... so good the morning after.'" Dr Maureen Cooper, a researcher from Stirling University, has found the answer. Apparently the '... traditional pizza base has fibres which trap water, preventing it from seeping through to the cooked dough and making it soggy. Given that fat and water do not mix, the melted cheese topping then sits nicely above the puree.'"

bumppo writes "This BBC News story hasn't really dented domestic news services aside from AP: seven-year Beirut hostage Terry Anderson and his family were awarded $341 million (including $300 million in punitive damages) against Iran and its Ministry of Information and Security. Ass-kicking Microsoft finder-of-fact and presiding judge Thomas Penfield Jackson oversaw the case, and determined the verdict. "

The judgment against Iran has never been recovered, but it does show a willingness to hit the loser in the pocketbook. According to the Bill Gates Net Worth Page, though, if Judge Jackson were to declare so paltry a figure as sufficient to settle the antitrust suit, Bill could cry all the way to several largish banks.

Quite a number of people have been writing about the alleged knowledge that NASA had regarding the Mars Polar Lander. Several reports are claiming, based on leaked information that NASA knew the thrusters would not work, and that the Mars Polar Lander would fail. My question: What would they gain by covering it up? I mean, if it was going to fail, people were going to find out anyway.Update: 03/22 08:13 by H : NASA has responded with a press release (included below) deconstructing the "leak". Once again, it looks like NASA is getting a bad rap.

RELEASE: 00-43

NASA'S RESPONSE TO UPI'S MARCH 21 MARS POLAR LANDER STORY

James Oberg of UPI claims that NASA knew there was a problem with the Mars Polar Lander propulsion system prior to the Dec. 3 landing attempt and "withheld this conclusion from the public." NASA categorically denies this charge. Here's what NASA did and what NASA said:

* The Stephenson report, phase 1, was released to the public on November 10, 1999 during a press conference at NASA Headquarters.

* The report made 11 different references to technical issues or concerns involving the propulsion system and the Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) sequence.

* This issue was specifically addressed in the press conference and in "MPL Observation No. 5" and other public recommendations of the Stephenson Phase 1 report. It was entitled, "Cold Firing of Thrusters," and dealt in detail with the catalyst bed issue cited by Mr. Oberg of UPI in his March 21 story, "NASA Knew Mars Polar Lander Doomed."

* Had UPI researched the public documents released on Nov. 10, which have been available online at the NASA Home Page, the reporter would have been able to conclude that NASA did indeed publicly address propulsion issues, and specifically, the propulsion system's "catalyst bed" temperature concern.

* Based on this review, NASA knew about the concerns with the propulsion system, NASA took corrective action, and NASA hid nothing from the public. We made our concerns known in early November.

* Several failure scenarios have been reported in the press over the last few weeks, including the lander legs microswitch issue. Outlets such as the Denver Post, Space Daily, and National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" have covered this angle. There is nothing new in the UPI report relating to this specific issue. The lander legs issue is among the failure modes we are studying.

* Both the Stephenson and Casani (John Casani, retired JPL flight programs head and also director of mission assurance) teams have conducted intensive reviews relating to Mars Polar Lander, and their teams have surfaced no evidence relating to thruster acceptance testing irregularities as alleged by UPI. In fact, members of the review teams are using words like "bunk," "complete nonsense," and "wacko," to describe their reactions to UPI's charge.

mattg writes, "Auntie is covering NASA's timetable for recent explorations of Mars has been called "wildly optimistic". Dr. Carl Pilcher, leader of NASA's planetary exploration program (whose sweater at the time said "Obey gravity: it's the law") has admitted that they do not know if they have the technology to bring rocks back yet. The report into the loss of the Polar Lander is due out at the end of the month. "

mattg writes, "Auntie is covering NASA's timetable for recent explorations of Mars has been called "wildly optimistic". Dr. Carl Pilcher, leader of NASA's planetary exploration program (whose sweater at the time said "Obey gravity: it's the law") has admitted that they do not know if they have the technology to bring rocks back yet. The report into the loss of the Polar Lander is due out at the end of the month. "

Narc writes "A new breakthrough in the cloning process has seen the introduction of 5 baby cloned pigs. Some of the claimed benefits would affect organ transplants such as heart, liver, kidney etc, and also diabetes. Get this tho, one of the pigs has been called Dotcom. I dread to think what names are gonna come up in the future if they have to call one in the first batch 'Dotcom'. I mean, running out of names already... "

osiris writes, "Just checking out the BBC news site to find that the Hubble telescope has been taking photos of some dying stars that seem to be creating carbon which is the building block of all life as we know it. "

osiris writes, "Just checking out the BBC news site to find that the Hubble telescope has been taking photos of some dying stars that seem to be creating carbon which is the building block of all life as we know it. "

Dr. Winston L. O'Boogie writes "According to this BBC report, bearded drinkers in Northern Ireland lose up to £23 of Guinness annually in their facial hair. It is also estimated that 162,719 pints are wasted each year. Where does the beer actually go?"

Mr_Ceebs writes, "Looking at the BBC today I find a new Magnetic rather than electronic chip type. The design can raise the number of chips per cm by a factor of about 1000, with the preliminary stages of the technology. For all devices this would mean the demise of the large battery pack. " H : This is a follow-on to this morning's story on moldable magnets.

bruce76 writes, "A Japanese company called Toshihiro Tashima is slated to introduce a robotic cat similar (in concept) to the Sony Aibo. This robotic cat is called Tama," They put fur on it, but the most interesting part is that they claim it can recognize its own name. That's a improvement over Aibo who isn't deaf, but sound doesn't do too much for him.

The mandatory library filtering ballot in Holland, Mich., home of the Slashdot Geek Compound, has been defeated. With heavy voter turnout of 41% (compared to 12% in 1996), the proposal was rejected by a pretty wide margin: 55% to 45%. The Holland library will remain unfiltered - or, more accurately, will now have the right to make up its own mind about whether blocking software is appropriate. See the local press coverage (or national or international), or read on for more.

I think it was my friend Lizard on the fight-censorship mailing list who said: "You can't compromise with book-burners. When someone asks you to burn 1,000 books, you cannot agree to burn only 500." He's exactly right. Any middle ground is a step backwards, and hard to recover.

It's important to keep in mind how tough the battle was. Holland was chosen to be a testbed by national groups like the American Family Association and Family Research Council, and they spent a lot of money. Why? Because the AFA and FRC stood to make a lot of money by using Holland as an example for nationwide campaigning. They have been hyping up this ballot as the first big step in a nationwide campaign.

And they figured Holland would be a slam-dunk. It's one of the most conservative communities in American. And the measure was well-timed: the ballot was on the same night as the Republican primary. (Michigan is not a closed primary, though, and many Democrats did vote.)

Some Slashdot posters have commented that I've seemed pessimistic in my reports on the campaign. They've been right. I couldn't read the city's mood very well, not being a native, and based on the coverage and talks I'd seen, I didn't think the chances were very good.

While the AFA and FRC together contributed over $40,000, the anti-filter side raised - locally - $2,000.

The AFA sponsored a "pushpoll," in which a Florida firm made phone calls to hundreds of likely voters, asking them "questions" designed to leave the impression that the library is inviting to pedophiles. Local anti-filter volunteers went door-to-door.

The pro-filter organizations ran radio, newspaper, and cable TV advertisements, they sent out at least three direct mailings, and they spent thousands on slick presentations to local groups.

And when it came down to the vote, they lost.

This isn't the end, though. It's just the beginning. The heads of the various pro-filtering groups are all hinting that the battle is not over. Presumably that means it will become another ballot issue, perhaps later this year, perhaps next year. And it will certainly be happening elsewhere in America at the same time. (Write me when it gets to your community.)

In some cases, the unaccountable censorship of secretive blocking software will be turned down at the voting booth. I'm guessing that, in the next five years, we'll see a definitive statement on the relevance of the First Amendment, one way or the other, in the courts.

But for now ... well, I'll close by congratulating everyone in Holland who worked to defeat this measure, and by quoting from one of the direct mailings funded by the AFA. You'll have to imagine this text as it appears, in 30-point headlines, with yellow highlights:

"America's watching, Holland. The debate over Internet filters on library computers is a national issue. Now, the focus is on Holland, Michigan.

"Tuesday, February 22nd, Holland citizens will decide the first ballot vote on filtering in the nation. How we vote will affect this issue nationwide.

"On February 22, send a clear message to America. Tell America we must protect our children from Internet pornography and drugs."

michael.creasy writes, "BBC Online reports that the DDoS attacks have been traced to California." The article says there is no evidence that employees or students at Stanford or the University of California at Santa Barbara [UCSB] were connected with the attacks - they were just "zombie" sites - but that the FBI is now zeroing in on California and Oregon as the region from which the attacks most likely originated.

Joel Rowbottom writes, "After all the lobbying and protests from the 'Net community over the past year, the UK government has still published The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill. If this becomes law then you could be sent to prison if your data is encrypted and you refuse to either supply the key, or the plaintext versions. If you're in the UK and you haven't done so yet, write to your MP and let them know your feelings on the subject! "

David Middleton writes "The European Commission is concerned that "Microsoft has designed parts of Windows 2000 in such a way which will permit it to leverage its dominance in PC operating systems into other markets." " The European market is one that's often forgotten in this whole anti-trust suit, but is still of critical importance to Microsoft. Now, this is not an anti-trust investigation, but considering the concerns of the EU commisioner, it's something definitely worth keeping an eye on.

Delboy writes "Here's an article from BBC News about a company called Space Imaging which will point their satellite at an area of the planet that you request, take a 1 metre resolution picture and then e-mail it to you the next day, check out this link to read more."

Anonymous Coward sent it in: a BBC story that says, "Two New Zealand scientists think they can explain one of the great mysteries of the natural world - ball lightning."

Sircus writes "The BBC is carrying this article regarding a robot 'monkey' that has been taught to swing from rung to rung of a ladder, using only the distance between the rungs and some basic equations about swinging. There's not much technical detail, but this is an interesting approach to the problem of dumb robots, and one which certainly gives the suits something pretty to look at."

buxley writes "BBC News is reporting that China may celebrate the upcoming Year of the Dragon by launching a man into space next month. Western experts have been quoted in the past as saying they didn't expect a manned mission from China for a few years yet. Surprise!"

buxley writes "BBC News is reporting that China may celebrate the upcoming Year of the Dragon by launching a man into space next month. Western experts have been quoted in the past as saying they didn't expect a manned mission from China for a few years yet. Surprise!"

buxley writes "BBC News is reporting that China may celebrate the upcoming Year of the Dragon by launching a man into space next month. Western experts have been quoted in the past as saying they didn't expect a manned mission from China for a few years yet. Surprise!"

Piete writes "The BBC's Tomorrow's World has just shown an item on MotionWare. It looked very impressive. By stimulating the inner ear, the user feels that they are moving. Some very impressive shots of children swaying and falling over! "

Rafael writes "The Hubble Space Telescope is back in business and better than ever, as made dramatically clear by stunning new pictures of remote galaxies and a colourful dying star. The story is at the BBC's webpage."

morn writes "After the AOL-Time Warner merger, it's now being reported by BBC News, amongst others, that EMI and Warner Music are planning a merger too. How large can a 'media' company get?" I don't know, but I think we're going to find out.

morn writes "After the AOL-Time Warner merger, it's now being reported by BBC News, amongst others, that EMI and Warner Music are planning a merger too. How large can a 'media' company get?" I don't know, but I think we're going to find out.

Rafael writes "The SETI@home project, aimed at using a computer screensaver to search for alien signals, seemed almost as crazy as searching at all. However, it became a phenomenon and an ever-increasing Internet addiction. Now SETI@home is being improved. Check the history at the BBC's Web page."

Cy Guy writes "The BBC is reporting that Roslin Institute, along with two government agencies that helped fund the research, has been awarded a UK patent for the technology used to produce a clone of Dolly the Sheep in 1996. Roslin has already been sold an exclusive license for the technology to the U.S. company Geron for $45M. "

morn writes "BBC News is reporting that China's 'online population' is booming, with 20 million people expected to be 'connected' by the end of the year, each spending an average of 17 hours [per week] online. This is despite surveys showing that Beijing residents account for more than 20% of users, with just 14% of mainland Chinese knowing what the Internet is. Read the full story here. "

morn writes "BBC News is reporting that China's 'online population' is booming, with 20 million people expected to be 'connected' by the end of the year, each spending an average of 17 hours [per week] online. This is despite surveys showing that Beijing residents account for more than 20% of users, with just 14% of mainland Chinese knowing what the Internet is. Read the full story here. "

daveb writes "There was some discussion back in September regarding the first pictures from the Chandra satillite obervatory. I thought you might be interested in this article about identifying the source of much "background" x-ray radiation. "

Sara Chan writes "Red Hat is making its distribution of Linux available free to schools in the United Kingdom. This might mean that a whole generation grows up in the UK with very positive feelings about Linux: the long-term value could be really large. Red Hat will still charge for support (likely at a discount)--but this will probably just encourage schools to grow their own Linux gurus. "

SkulkCU writes "The Simpsons turn 10 today. I still laugh throughout every show. " I still say that the Simpsons is the best show on television last decade. This season has been stronger than the last couple too.

Today's TBTF has interesting data and links on the state of X-ray astronomy; ABCNews has an overview. For five months, the orbiting Chandra observatory has been producing great data and potential desktop art. Now, by focusing on a small area of sky, Chanda has resolved what was formerly just known as "X-rayglow" into distinct sources (photo), many of which even Hubble can't find in visible light. The American Astronomical Society will talk about this and other Chandra findings in a live webcast today at 2P.M. EST. For a two-year overview of our universe's secret life in invisible radiation, check out All-Sky Monitor Movies. And oh yeah, in visible-light news, microlensing provides strong evidence for stellar-size black holes being numerous.

rolla writes "World's first double hand transplant was done in france. The BBC has a good story on it." Well, now I know what to do when my hands wear out from the endless typing, guitar and accordion playing.

Mr_Ceebs writes to us with an interesting story from the BBC about Galileo's latest experiments. By flying within 220 miles of the surface, and using a magnometer, the probe found results that would be congruent with the prescence of a large, salty ocean beneath the ice on Europa. Arthur C. Clarke anyone?

Ant sent it: A BBC News story about how illegal stations in the U.K. are exploiting the new Radio Data System (RDS) standard that is now used in Europe and South Africa, and is coming soon to Australia, China and the US, by using RDS signals to force nearby motorists's car radios to tune automatically to their stations instead of legitimate ones.

Stiletto writes "According to this article, the British government is planning on forcing automobile manufacturers to install devices that allow satellites to monitor the vehicle's speed and control it when it is moving 'too fast.'" I suspect that any U.S. politician who tried to push through something like this would be out of office immediately. I can't speak for U.K. residents, but I bet it's the same there. Does anyone think *any* government could really get away with this?

Matt G writes "The Hubble Telescope's brain transplant seems to have been a perfect succss - British-born Michael Foale and Swiss Claude Nicollier carried out the delicate operation of installing a new computer as they flew over Australia at an altitude of about 600km (360 miles) on Thursday. The full story is posted at The BBC News site here. "

Pzykotic writes "The great actor Desmond Llewelyn, who played Q in all but 2 Bond films died in a head-on car crash in England today at age 85. I loved that guy, he will be sorely missed." Here's the BBC story. 72 readers submitted this news before we got it posted, so obviously Mr. Llewelyn was a bit of a geek icon, eh? Update: 12/19 07:51 by CT : I just watched Thunderball last night. God he was cool.

Markee writes " Remember that cool life function surveillance system in Alien III? BBC News is running a story about the Lifeshirt-- a shirt that is constantly monitoring the wearer's life functions and reporting the data to a doctor. With $250 per shirt and about $30 per day, it's not exactly cheap--but if you wear it, you can ring your doctor up to ask him whether this pain in your chest is a heart attack or not. "

Markee writes " Remember that cool life function surveillance system in Alien III? BBC News is running a story about the Lifeshirt-- a shirt that is constantly monitoring the wearer's life functions and reporting the data to a doctor. With $250 per shirt and about $30 per day, it's not exactly cheap--but if you wear it, you can ring your doctor up to ask him whether this pain in your chest is a heart attack or not. "

Tim C writes "I was watching the 9 o'clock News on BBC1 here in the UK, and could hardly believe what I was seeing - a group of American scientists have apparently discovered what they believe to be the 300 or so genes that are all that is required to create a simple life-form - more details can be found on the BBC news website. Somewhat reassuringly, they realise the potential impact of their work, and so are seeking the opinions of religious leaders before proceeding with the next stage of their research - actually attempting to create a living organism."

x00 writes "The BBC News site is currently reporting that Altavista is going to float and that it could be worth 5 Billion Dollars. It also states that it could possibly merge with Lycos. "

x00 writes "The BBC News site is currently reporting that Altavista is going to float and that it could be worth 5 Billion Dollars. It also states that it could possibly merge with Lycos. "

Justin Time sent us linkage to another device that could put us one step closer to gargoyle land. The screen is monocle that displays a 10 inch screen. Runs Win98 (ick) and has 3 hours of battery life. Definitely looks like it has some potential.

Scott Manley writes "According to the Sunday Times, and the BBC the UK government is putting together a task force to advise the government on Extraterrestrial hazards. Professor Mark Bailey has been campaigning for this for a long time - and it seems timely for such a thing after his staff at Armagh Observatory made the first accurate prediction of a meteor shower. "

Scott Manley writes "According to the Sunday Times, and the BBC the UK government is putting together a task force to advise the government on Extraterrestrial hazards. Professor Mark Bailey has been campaigning for this for a long time - and it seems timely for such a thing after his staff at Armagh Observatory made the first accurate prediction of a meteor shower. "

chrisr was the first of many to tell us that less than a week after the BBC reported Bell Labs had developed a 50 nanometer transistor, researchers at the University of California at Berkeley have announced an 18 nanometer transistor. Best of all, the team has decided to not patent the design, hoping it will lead to faster acceptance.

chrisr was the first of many to tell us that less than a week after the BBC reported Bell Labs had developed a 50 nanometer transistor, researchers at the University of California at Berkeley have announced an 18 nanometer transistor. Best of all, the team has decided to not patent the design, hoping it will lead to faster acceptance.

Last week we ran a story about a visually-detected planet orbiting HD 209458 - its star dimmed when the planet passed before it. Today, Richey points us to a "a BBC story about how astronomers have actually picked up light reflecting off an extrasolar planet. They've managed to perform a basic analysis of its atmosphere from it." Check out the three elements they believe they found.