1) From TFA: "'With one rain shower everything is washed clean,' the institution said in a statement." Ah, but exactly WHAT is washed to WHERE, eh? Are we just trading off air pollution for water pollution?
You mean air pollution that we don't have too much choice about breathing in, versus water pollution that can be filtered out?
2) How durable is this new substance? How much pollution can the road suck up before it wears out? Will it need to be resurfaced and/or replaced every year? Two years?
As I understand it TiO2 is acting as a catalyst, so it shouldn't need replacing. However, as a resident of The Netherlands, one thing you get used to is that a lot of city roads are actually made out of bricks. Not tarmac, or anything like that, but bricks. And every few years they get dug up because they've been laid on sand, and subsided. So the roads don't wear out, they just get pushed down. What this means in practice is that it would be quite practical to convert (over time) all the normal brick based roads to "green brick" roads. I think that this would prove to be quite a boost to the air quality of your typical high density Dutch conurbation. And I can't think of a reason why TiO2 salted bricks should be less physically durable than regular bricks.
So, 54% of UK file sharers are 11 - 16? Like little Johny is listening to "MP3s" in his bedroom? Yeah, right. Can't wait for the festival of denial when the head of the household gets a letter inquiring about *those* downloads...
Your comment assumes that higher technology is always better.
Higher technology is better, if it's not, then it's not higher technology.
Sometimes what you need is a hammer, not a jackhammer. I'm not convinced the massive failures all over the place that result from using lead-free solder are worth the incremental environmental benefit.
Jackhammers can be used quite effectively as hammers. Reducing the amount of lead in the environment is no bad thing, if you believe otherwise - can I interest you in a house with lead piping?
Is it just me, or is England already well down the spiral towards "What the Fuck are you Thinking, Nation?"
I'm not sure this is entirely fair, the callers sounded more confused than anything, and were handled quite courteously by the Police (well, before they got posted on youtube, anyway). It's not like they were SWATTING someone.
As for "What the Fuck are you Thinking, Nation?"... George W. Bush anyone (twice)?
Incidentally, I wonder whether the rise in calls to 999 is partly due to it being quicker now to dial the number than with the old rotary phones (less time to change your mind/get cold feet)?
All the geeks have a great laugh when Matt Groening causes Bender to become transparent and we see a 6502 inside. The joke is that Bender has about the same processing power of a C64 from the early 80s. The show is littered with additional Commodore jokes which I'm sure 90% of the viewers just don't get.
6502 you say? Oh no. The Commodore 64 used a 6510 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOS_Technology_6510), which featured an additional 8-bit general purpose I/O port, and an address bus that could be made tri-state! On the other hand, perhaps Bender is Obsoletely Fabulous?
Have you considered the 5BX program that was developed for the Royal Canadian Air Force? You can download the PDF manuals from http://www.gettingfitagain.com/5bx.php - and it's only supposed to take 11 minutes a day. Usual disclaimer about consulting a doctor before starting with a new exercise plan of course.
That's why you remove it and hide it or take it with you.
Most thieves who are after removable GPS units will look for the tell-tale suction pad smudge on the windscreen, and then break in to see where you've hidden it. The police in the UK are advising motorists to wipe off any giveaway marks before leaving the car.
Actually, the stars we see in the sky at night are generally not supernovae.
That's not what I wrote about. I wrote that the ones we can see that are billions of light years away are supernova. No other type of star can be resolved at those sorts of distances.
As for pulsed lasers, yep, the most powerful laser to date, the Texas Petawatt laser, can make a beam brighter than the surface of the sun. Unfortunately, it only lasts just a 10th of a trillionth of a second (0.0000000000001 second), which might make it a bit difficult to detect. And of course, the cross-section of the laser beam, as opposed to that of a star, is somewhat smaller. Aiming would require some finesse too.
Err, in fact we can easily see the light from stars that are billions of light years away, without light absorption by "interplanetary matter" being a big problem.
Those stars are generally supernova, and are putting out a serious amount of energy. As for light absorption by interstellar matter, it is a problem for observing some stars, as we can't see them (at visible wavelengths anyway).
Tractors pretty much drive themselves nowadays on the big corporate farms. And they use less energy because their engines are more efficient.
But... that doesn't matter. If the cost of that energy has risen by more than the reduction of energy used, you're still worse off. OK, if the engines hadn't become more efficient you would be even more worse off, but using a resource more efficiently doesn't mean it's cheaper to use now than in the past. Just more efficient at using it. So, as a scientist, does that refute your argument?
Also towards your snide remark about debt. I only have 3k in student loans, because I live within my means and pay down my loans as soon as possible, instead of viewing extra income as the ability to have higher monthly payments. There is nothing wrong with debt if you know how to use it.
Granted, but what is the evidence that Americans use debt wisely? Even if you manage your finances well, it's not going to help you find a job when the economy is in turmoil due to a credit crunch.
You're talking about a country where the poorest members have microwaves, color TV, internet, hot and cold potable water in their house, lots of food, new clothing, conditioned air, and relative safety.
For an industrialized nation, isn't that the absolute minimum you would expect? But how about health care? What do you do if/when you get sick?
Slashdot Mirror
Perhaps using wheels that are 10cm smaller might work instead?
So species that have become extinct were never alive?
A fiddle?
You mean air pollution that we don't have too much choice about breathing in, versus water pollution that can be filtered out?
As I understand it TiO2 is acting as a catalyst, so it shouldn't need replacing. However, as a resident of The Netherlands, one thing you get used to is that a lot of city roads are actually made out of bricks. Not tarmac, or anything like that, but bricks. And every few years they get dug up because they've been laid on sand, and subsided. So the roads don't wear out, they just get pushed down. What this means in practice is that it would be quite practical to convert (over time) all the normal brick based roads to "green brick" roads. I think that this would prove to be quite a boost to the air quality of your typical high density Dutch conurbation. And I can't think of a reason why TiO2 salted bricks should be less physically durable than regular bricks.
Apparently they needed rocket scientists, but with the delay in communication it's still ongoing.
The 6th photo has a whole lot of black circles, I guess it's just too early to worry about black hol+++CARRIER DISCONNECT+++
Surely a real vote winner.
Higher technology is better, if it's not, then it's not higher technology.
Jackhammers can be used quite effectively as hammers. Reducing the amount of lead in the environment is no bad thing, if you believe otherwise - can I interest you in a house with lead piping?
I'm not sure this is entirely fair, the callers sounded more confused than anything, and were handled quite courteously by the Police (well, before they got posted on youtube, anyway). It's not like they were SWATTING someone.
As for "What the Fuck are you Thinking, Nation?"... George W. Bush anyone (twice)?
Incidentally, I wonder whether the rise in calls to 999 is partly due to it being quicker now to dial the number than with the old rotary phones (less time to change your mind/get cold feet)?
I'm sure there's a bagpiping joke here somewhere...
6502 you say? Oh no. The Commodore 64 used a 6510 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOS_Technology_6510), which featured an additional 8-bit general purpose I/O port, and an address bus that could be made tri-state! On the other hand, perhaps Bender is Obsoletely Fabulous?
Have you considered the 5BX program that was developed for the Royal Canadian Air Force? You can download the PDF manuals from http://www.gettingfitagain.com/5bx.php - and it's only supposed to take 11 minutes a day. Usual disclaimer about consulting a doctor before starting with a new exercise plan of course.
Most thieves who are after removable GPS units will look for the tell-tale suction pad smudge on the windscreen, and then break in to see where you've hidden it. The police in the UK are advising motorists to wipe off any giveaway marks before leaving the car.
There's video news footage showing WK2, and the Virgin Galactic promo video (pretty good) at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/2466198/Sir-Richard-Branson-unveils-Virgin's-spaceship.html. Sat down and watched it (4 mins), and thought I wouldn't mind a go too. Note: includes interesting audio commentary. The actual article also includes some interesting additional information.
There, fixed it for you.
Why, exactly, would we be wanting to spray...
Let's Nukem Forever, Duke.
That's not what I wrote about. I wrote that the ones we can see that are billions of light years away are supernova. No other type of star can be resolved at those sorts of distances.
As for pulsed lasers, yep, the most powerful laser to date, the Texas Petawatt laser, can make a beam brighter than the surface of the sun. Unfortunately, it only lasts just a 10th of a trillionth of a second (0.0000000000001 second), which might make it a bit difficult to detect. And of course, the cross-section of the laser beam, as opposed to that of a star, is somewhat smaller. Aiming would require some finesse too.
Those stars are generally supernova, and are putting out a serious amount of energy. As for light absorption by interstellar matter, it is a problem for observing some stars, as we can't see them (at visible wavelengths anyway).
I for one welcome our rice steaming overlords.
But... that doesn't matter. If the cost of that energy has risen by more than the reduction of energy used, you're still worse off. OK, if the engines hadn't become more efficient you would be even more worse off, but using a resource more efficiently doesn't mean it's cheaper to use now than in the past. Just more efficient at using it. So, as a scientist, does that refute your argument?
Granted, but what is the evidence that Americans use debt wisely? Even if you manage your finances well, it's not going to help you find a job when the economy is in turmoil due to a credit crunch.
For an industrialized nation, isn't that the absolute minimum you would expect? But how about health care? What do you do if/when you get sick?
Exactly who is the DA going to expert witness against Terry Childs, should matters come to trial?
You might want to investigate https://www.opendns.com/start for what you actually need to do. I use OpenDNS when I am not running in 'tor' mode.
This is ridiculous. Next thing you know, they'll be putting web cams on cigarette vending machines! Oh, hang on...