Firstly, the aerial photographs show mirrors fairly widely spread leaving a large proportion of the land open, so if grazing is possible on this land (and it does look pretty bare) that is not going to be greatly harmed. Secondly, if such large quantities of water do need to be used for cleaning, the run-off will irrigate the land. Win-win by the look of things.
As so often, Douglas Adams saw the future, courtesy here of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation. 'Your plastic pal who's fun to be with!'
Share and enjoy!
Why is it that, every time there is a story about energy saving measures (which, after all, is what this story is about) someone comes out with the old canard about how the world is cooling really?
I suppose it could be said to be a glacial wind if it is from the North East, and thus blowing from Norway. After all the nearest glaciers in that direction are only 700km away...
I note, however, that the link is to an Australian site, so by their standards it is pretty cold in this part of the world.
Although the NYT article seems, at first reading, to be a quite sober account of weight loss in exercise, it de-emphasises the point of the Blundell study, which placed more emphasis on the other benefits of exercise (weight loss being only one potential benefit.) The study by Blundell et al has already been grossly mis-reported in the popular press, and the nature of the reports and reactions to them show clearly the need for more responsible reporting of science stories in newspapers. The link above, BTW, takes us only to the abstract: viewing the article itself requires a subscription.
The Sunday Telegraph here in the UK ( http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/6083234/Health-warning-exercise-makes-you-fat.html ) used pre-publication data from this study that Blundell has stated totally mis-represented its findings (that, amongst other things, only 15% of the study group gained weight, and that they were all ones who ate more than usual during the study period.)
That article also quoted the one of 43 trials reviewed by the Cochrane Library that did not show a significant weight-loss in the participants (it says "some surprising studies in America " when it means "one surprising and possibly unrepresentative study in America". The lead author of that study, Dr Timothy Church of Louisiana University, seems to undermine the validity of his own study, in which the participants were asked not to alter their diet by saying (according to the Telegraph article) "after spending time in the gym, they eat a chocolate muffin, which undoes all of the work they did.”
The Telegraph unaccountably ignored the 42 studies which did not conform to what appears to be their preconception.
Can't manufacturers be more choosy when choosing names for things - especially when using initials? With this new technology it looks like I shall be storing my music encoded as PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) on memory modules using PCM (Phase Change Memory) on my PCM (Pretty Cool Mobile.)
Q "why is the current generation of games giving so much importance to the realism in graphic games?"
A. For the same reason that Hollywood attaches such importance to CGI and vastly expensive special effects: - they are unable or unwilling to provide storylines or dialogue that can grip the viewers attention without them.
The same lack of imagination is the reason for the preponderance of sequels and films based on comic books.
In act, there is only one honour that is the personal gift of the monarch, and that is the Order of Companion of Honour (C.H.), which is limited to just 66 living members from the Commonwealth. In addition there are at present three honorary members from non-commonwealth countries.
By convention, the Queen is said to have the right to be consulted, the right to advise, and the right to warn. Technically she has a right to veto legislation, but this last occurred in 1709 and if she attempted it today, I suspect there would be a constitutional crisis leading either to a general election or a referendum on the monarchy.
Pratchett himself has a good go at the idea of constitutional monarchy in one of the Lancre books where he says (more or less: I haven't the book to hand) that King Verence was in theory an absolute monarch, always provided he never asked his people to do something that they didn't wish to do.
That just about sums up the actual power that our Brenda has.
My perspective on this is that this is likely to have had some input from the Hollywood/entertainment-industry lobby on Capitol Hill. I can't think of any other reason why a government that seemingly cannot (or at least will not) afford a universal healthcare system would fork out an amount that, while trivial in itself, when multiplied by the likely take up will be quite substantial.
"Interestingly, televisions without inbuilt digital decoding are still on the market today - though I can't think why."
Easy - Something like 20% of the UK is unlikely ever to received Freeview (i.e. DTV-T, or DTV from terrestrial transmitters) so any DTV-T equipped set installed in those areas will have a useless tuner. That is what Freesat (http://www.freesat.co.uk/), due for launch in March, is for. This latter is (IMO) likely to supercede DTV-T as it provides for more channels and for HDTV.
Q. Is Russia becoming more like the USA, or is the USA becoming more like Russia?
A. Yes (to both.)
As a Briton, caught between the two I am becoming seriously worried, both by Putin's increasingly strident attacks on anyone who opposes him and the USA's seeming inability to elect anyone other than a clown as president.
Quote: According to this statement, the only music you should be able to play actual pre-recorded minidiscs, which I don't even think are sold anymore.
In fact, although they could be found on sale in a few places, I don't think that pre-recorded MDs were ever actually sold anywhere - at least no-one actually bought them.
Slashdot Mirror
Firstly, the aerial photographs show mirrors fairly widely spread leaving a large proportion of the land open, so if grazing is possible on this land (and it does look pretty bare) that is not going to be greatly harmed. Secondly, if such large quantities of water do need to be used for cleaning, the run-off will irrigate the land. Win-win by the look of things.
As so often, Douglas Adams saw the future, courtesy here of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation. 'Your plastic pal who's fun to be with!' Share and enjoy!
Why is it that, every time there is a story about energy saving measures (which, after all, is what this story is about) someone comes out with the old canard about how the world is cooling really?
I note, however, that the link is to an Australian site, so by their standards it is pretty cold in this part of the world.
The Sunday Telegraph here in the UK ( http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/6083234/Health-warning-exercise-makes-you-fat.html ) used pre-publication data from this study that Blundell has stated totally mis-represented its findings (that, amongst other things, only 15% of the study group gained weight, and that they were all ones who ate more than usual during the study period.)
That article also quoted the one of 43 trials reviewed by the Cochrane Library that did not show a significant weight-loss in the participants (it says "some surprising studies in America " when it means "one surprising and possibly unrepresentative study in America". The lead author of that study, Dr Timothy Church of Louisiana University, seems to undermine the validity of his own study, in which the participants were asked not to alter their diet by saying (according to the Telegraph article) "after spending time in the gym, they eat a chocolate muffin, which undoes all of the work they did.”
The Telegraph unaccountably ignored the 42 studies which did not conform to what appears to be their preconception.
For more information see ( http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/aug/29/telegraph-exercise-fat-bad-science ), or go to Ben Goldacre's own site ( http://www.badscience.net/ ) for a fuller version.
It's all rather confusing, really.
A. For the same reason that Hollywood attaches such importance to CGI and vastly expensive special effects: - they are unable or unwilling to provide storylines or dialogue that can grip the viewers attention without them.
The same lack of imagination is the reason for the preponderance of sequels and films based on comic books.
In act, there is only one honour that is the personal gift of the monarch, and that is the Order of Companion of Honour (C.H.), which is limited to just 66 living members from the Commonwealth. In addition there are at present three honorary members from non-commonwealth countries.
By convention, the Queen is said to have the right to be consulted, the right to advise, and the right to warn. Technically she has a right to veto legislation, but this last occurred in 1709 and if she attempted it today, I suspect there would be a constitutional crisis leading either to a general election or a referendum on the monarchy.
Pratchett himself has a good go at the idea of constitutional monarchy in one of the Lancre books where he says (more or less: I haven't the book to hand) that King Verence was in theory an absolute monarch, always provided he never asked his people to do something that they didn't wish to do.
That just about sums up the actual power that our Brenda has.
I heard that "53 more things to do in zero gravity" was very popular. There's sure to be something in there.
What next? Free tickets for the movies for all?
Easy - Something like 20% of the UK is unlikely ever to received Freeview (i.e. DTV-T, or DTV from terrestrial transmitters) so any DTV-T equipped set installed in those areas will have a useless tuner. That is what Freesat (http://www.freesat.co.uk/), due for launch in March, is for. This latter is (IMO) likely to supercede DTV-T as it provides for more channels and for HDTV.
A. Yes (to both.)
As a Briton, caught between the two I am becoming seriously worried, both by Putin's increasingly strident attacks on anyone who opposes him and the USA's seeming inability to elect anyone other than a clown as president.
In fact, although they could be found on sale in a few places, I don't think that pre-recorded MDs were ever actually sold anywhere - at least no-one actually bought them.