Slashdot Mirror
Domain: newscientist.com
Stories and comments across the archive that link to newscientist.com.
Stories · 1,328
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Is The Fabric of Space-Time Woven With Noise?
Grubert writes: "Some Australian mathematicians have found a way to explain many deep problems in fundamental physics using mathematical models based on noise. (This statement is slightly inaccurate; read the New Scientist article."Given the justified head-scratching that accompanies any investigation into the origin, age, weight and dimensionality of the universe, and considering that this theory bears on each of these, it's exciting stuff. Could this be the beginning of a breakthrough in our understanding of /everything/?
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Using Enzymes to Help Fight CO2 Build-Up
A reader writes to us: "There is a story in the New Scientist that details efforts to use enzymes that destroy ethanol as catalytic converters, turning noxious carbon dioxide into methanol. " The enzymes in question are actually those that are found in the liver - the same one that helps break down alcohol. Cool application of it, if this ever becomes reality. -
Caught Before the Act
bgp4 writes "New Scientist has a report on advances in video surveillance. Researchers in the UK have determined ways to pick out a criminal before he has actually committed the crime." Surveillance systems sound the alarm if you deviate from the routines expected of "law-abiding" citizens and track people from one camera to the next. -
Bionic Implants Stimulate Muscle Contractions
joshv writes "Researchers at University of Southern California have developed implants about the size of a grain of rice which are injected directly into muscles to stimulate muscular contractions in stroke victims. The implants have no external connections or wires and are activated and presumedly powered by an external radio signal. " -
Remote Control Robotic Snakes
0xdeaddeaf writes "Check out this site on remote controlled robtoic snakes from Dr. Gavin Miller. He's been working on a realistic moving robotic snake for a number of years and has posted several videos of his prototypes that span from S1 in 1987 to S5 in 1999. The snakes are self contained with onboard computer, battries, receiver, and locomotion system. The video of S3 shows they can move like sidewinders and S5 does indeed look extremely realistic. Put a skin on these things and there is no doubt you fool a lot of people if the motors are quiet. The New Scientist has an additional article that explains how their movement is performed. " -
Reverse Time Could Explain Dark Matter
idot writes "According to Lawrence Schulman of Clarkson University, who will get his work published in the Physical Review Letters, the universe could contain reverse-time regions. The article from New Scientist says that this phenomenon could explain the yet mysterious dark matter. " The reverse time regions can help explain the "dark matter" problem because, as potential relics from the future, stars could have re-ignited under The Big Crunch and while we wouldn't see them, we would feel their gravity. Needless to say, more details will be needed then this small article. -
SETI@Home Says Client 'Upgrades' Are a Bad Idea
bgp4 writes "New Scientist has an article on how 'upgrades' to SETI@Home clients are causing some trouble. Even though the upgrades speed the client up, SETI reps don't want people using them because they may induce bad data. If SETI@home just open-sourced [the SETI@home client], they'd have better PR and a better client." Amen! SETI@home, are you listening? -
Coming to a Desktop near you: Tempest Capabilities
AftanGustur writes "New Scientist has an interesting article about a new toy we will all want. It's a card that plugs in one of your PCI slots and allows you to scan the EMF spectrum and read your neighbours terminal. In about 5 years you might be able to get one for just under £1000. (Modern Tempest Hardware costs about £30000) " Excellent. Now I won't have to read over Rob's shoulder all the time. -
Coming to a Desktop near you: Tempest Capabilities
AftanGustur writes "New Scientist has an interesting article about a new toy we will all want. It's a card that plugs in one of your PCI slots and allows you to scan the EMF spectrum and read your neighbours terminal. In about 5 years you might be able to get one for just under £1000. (Modern Tempest Hardware costs about £30000) " Excellent. Now I won't have to read over Rob's shoulder all the time. -
Insightful interview with Ross Anderson
DragonHawk writes "NewScientist has an opinion piece entitled Confidentially Yours, which is an interview with Ross Anderson of Cambridge University. He talks about the future of government in the information age, cyber-terrorism and information warfare, and why criminals do not use encryption (making gov't crypto export restrictions pointless). Anderson's team is one of the finalists chosen to design the US Advanced Encryption Standard to replace DES." Sensible and worth reading. -
Insightful interview with Ross Anderson
DragonHawk writes "NewScientist has an opinion piece entitled Confidentially Yours, which is an interview with Ross Anderson of Cambridge University. He talks about the future of government in the information age, cyber-terrorism and information warfare, and why criminals do not use encryption (making gov't crypto export restrictions pointless). Anderson's team is one of the finalists chosen to design the US Advanced Encryption Standard to replace DES." Sensible and worth reading. -
Time Doesn't Exist
Meshula writes "An interesting article suggesting that time is an illusion of perception has appeared at New Scientist. "...quantum mechanics supports it. In 1929, the British physicist Nevill Mott and Werner Heisenberg from Germany explained how alpha particles, emitted by radioactive nuclei, form straight tracks in cloud chambers. Mott pointed out that, quantum mechanically, the emitted alpha particle is a spherical wave which slowly leaks out of the nucleus. It is difficult to picture how it is that an outgoing spherical wave can produce a straight line," he argued. We think intuitively that it should ionise atoms at random throughout space. Mott noted that we think this way because we imagine that quantum processes take place in ordinary three-dimensional space. In fact, the possible configurations of the alpha particle and the particles in the detecting chamber must be regarded as the points of a hugely multidimensional configuration space, a miniature Platonia, with the position of the radioactive nucleus playing the role of Alpha. " It's worth a read. " -
Sound-producing LCD Screens
haakon writes "The New scientist have a story about getting LCD screens to produce sound. I wonder if I can hack a X server to do that on my laptop? " Mmm...with this SGI flatscreen, and Rob's as well, I think we're to be having a concert - tickets go on sale Friday. -
Sound-producing LCD Screens
haakon writes "The New scientist have a story about getting LCD screens to produce sound. I wonder if I can hack a X server to do that on my laptop? " Mmm...with this SGI flatscreen, and Rob's as well, I think we're to be having a concert - tickets go on sale Friday. -
Smart Dust
kris writes "The german Telepolis magazine from Heise put up a small article about Kris Pister and Randy Katz creating small laser-driven wireless communicating swarm-computing nano-devices called MEMS. This is right out of a Neal Stevenson novel, The Diamond Age. The article is in english language. " I wish there's was more details to this article-if you find more, please post below. Update: 09/08 12:15 by H :Check out New Scientist for more information too. -
Silicon Chip Survival of the Fittest
0b1 writes "A scientist has created a Microproccessor that can distinguish between a few words, by just letting it "Mutate", and mixing the Different designs that worked, while eliminating those that didn't. Read the full article if you like. " People are doing a lot of this stuff right now; anyone else wonder where it will end up? -
Radiation Protection: Caffeine
B.D.Mills writes "This article on the New Scientist web site claims that "drinking coffee could protect people from radioactivity, according to scientists in India who have found that mice given caffeine survive otherwise lethal doses of radiation." " Hmm...so does this mean I don't need to worry about the background radiation from my monitor? -
Radiation Protection: Caffeine
B.D.Mills writes "This article on the New Scientist web site claims that "drinking coffee could protect people from radioactivity, according to scientists in India who have found that mice given caffeine survive otherwise lethal doses of radiation." " Hmm...so does this mean I don't need to worry about the background radiation from my monitor? -
Nano-trains in New Scientist
The Evil Dwarf from Hell writes "New Scientist has a very interesting article on Nano-trains. The researcher built the tracks out of microtubles in cow neurons with the motors of kinesin running on fuel of ATP. " OK, next I need a nano-train that speeds up the flow of my neuropeptides across the synaptic cleft. Then I'm set-or starting on a whole new set of things. -
Nano-trains in New Scientist
The Evil Dwarf from Hell writes "New Scientist has a very interesting article on Nano-trains. The researcher built the tracks out of microtubles in cow neurons with the motors of kinesin running on fuel of ATP. " OK, next I need a nano-train that speeds up the flow of my neuropeptides across the synaptic cleft. Then I'm set-or starting on a whole new set of things. -
3D graphics on Modified LCD Flatscreen
Christopher Neufeld writes "New Scientist maganize reports this week on a company designing a 3D vision system which uses a modified LCD flatscreen. The two images are interlaced on the screen, and a holographic lens directs the light from alternating rows to different eyes. " -
Steal Cars With a PalmPilot?
Joe Peden writes "Found this in New Scientist. A new(?) use for the PalmPilot's IR port. Disable car locks and alarms. Works in the UK, anyway." And you thought using your Palm III to change channels on your TV was cool. Finally I know the real reason I drive a p.o.s. -
Why is Silicon Valley so darn successful?
The New Scientist this week has an interesting article on why Silicon Valley is so successful. It also warns that as transistor size goes down, the probability of error due to alpha particle radiation from the environment and the chip's casing itself increases. Finally, for those that are interested in climate change, there's a daily report from the Buenos Aires conference. Update It appears they've been slashdotted. It worked when I read the article. Perhaps tomorrow... -
E-commerce's other side
The NewScientist reports this week that research at IBM and MIT has shown that E-commerce will cause more frequent and severe economic cycles of boom and bust because people are likely to use software agents to get the best bargains. The instantaneous decisions the software agents make lead to chaotic system behaviours... rather like the stock market crash of 1987. And of course there's also the Dow Jones Bug. -
E-commerce's other side
The NewScientist reports this week that research at IBM and MIT has shown that E-commerce will cause more frequent and severe economic cycles of boom and bust because people are likely to use software agents to get the best bargains. The instantaneous decisions the software agents make lead to chaotic system behaviours... rather like the stock market crash of 1987. And of course there's also the Dow Jones Bug. -
E-commerce's other side
The NewScientist reports this week that research at IBM and MIT has shown that E-commerce will cause more frequent and severe economic cycles of boom and bust because people are likely to use software agents to get the best bargains. The instantaneous decisions the software agents make lead to chaotic system behaviours... rather like the stock market crash of 1987. And of course there's also the Dow Jones Bug. -
E-commerce's other side
The NewScientist reports this week that research at IBM and MIT has shown that E-commerce will cause more frequent and severe economic cycles of boom and bust because people are likely to use software agents to get the best bargains. The instantaneous decisions the software agents make lead to chaotic system behaviours... rather like the stock market crash of 1987. And of course there's also the Dow Jones Bug. -
Creatures from Primordial Silicon
John Holder writes "The New Scientist is reporting on using genetic algorithms to design circuits. Amazing stuff! " Genetic algorithms are one of those things that I wish I knew more about, but realize that I will never have time to learn about them. Really fascinating concepts though. This will likely play a large part in the future of technology.