Simple, because "Math is Hard". That and they're tired of their male colleagues saying, "Byte me", "Mind if I nibble for a bit", and similar worn out expressions as pickup lines.
This is an avenue which has gotten some attention, but you must be realistic about the numbers. First, assume about an hour of time on either side to account for multiple pickups and traffic. This assumes that spaceports exist at major cities. Then consider the economics of on-demand launches. Rockets will he held until there are enough packages. Throw in business hours and, in many cases, overnight with 9:00 AM delivery will be identical in practice.
Rockets offer two potential advantages. First, they will be more effective for long trips (e.g. NY to Sydney). Second, they can get places that planes can't (e.g. Luna, Mars,...).
The name 'Hierakonpolis' or 'Here a con polis' where 'polis' means city basically is announcing 'This is a fake city'.
The diyttrium potassium article was actually original research and mildly interesting at that.
"The researchers wish to point out to their dean and department head that only 12 hours of supercomputer time were spent on the analysis." This did not appear in the Science article from what I recall.
I would like to offer the proposition that scientific humor is targeted for a limited audience and that the form of the publication often parodies that of field-appropriate journals. This later point often makes the joke difficult to translate. It's like having a punchline in a monologue where the timing is badly off. Other elements often depend on an understanding of subtle word play or field specific terminology. This is not to say that scientific humor cannot be understood by non-scientists, but merely that non-scientists are much less likely to find it funny.
One of my personal favorites was published nearly eight years ago. This was a study on diyttrium potassium which was published in Science. I don't have a link to the original (and more humorous -- at least to me -- article), but maybe this one will do.
Should the proposition above not resonate, let me offer this second theory. Scientists generally spend too many hours in the lab, in the field, or at the computer. This has resulted in an atrophied sense of humor such that anything beyond this level of funniness could prove fatal. Believe what you will.
I do recognize that the total mass of comets is larger than the terresterial planets. However, I dispute that the usable volume is as high as the authors might want to claim. Much of the cometary volume is too cold, with short-lived radioisotopes for heating (particularly 26Al). Terresterial planets get consideral benefit from gravitational heating and convection to create long-lived zones with stable temperatures and limited ionizing radiation.
I think we can safely say that the odds of multicelled life developing on comets are very low. Conversely, some biologically relevant molecules do form in comets. The question is how far toward life comets can take you. Skepticism is warrented for any 'origin of life' paper. Multiple by ten for any paper that claims to present a decisive argument (as this one does).
If I understand their argument correctly, the abundance of clay in certain comets provides the template for RNA formation and eventual RNA-based life (with DNA coming later). There may be other factors which are discussed in the actual paper. As such, consider these thoughts preliminary.
There are several factors that would seem to argue against life starting in comets. First of all, planets have a far greater volume than comets with larger and more diverse areas in which life might form. Comets must not only reach planets but deliver their biologics intact. These biologics must then be suitable for propagation in the environment in which they arrive.
That last point is quite important. If comets did provide a birthplace for life, it is quite likely that their cargo would be unable to survive such an abrupt transition. Far more likely is that the life started on the planet in the first place.
The challenge is making a game where everyone can "start a merchant empire, overthrow a king, or build a village". It's easy to do in single player games, but far more difficult when you've got millions of players. Here is the only one that comes close and the graphics are far better than Tabula Rasa. But even in that one, players complain that the outcomes are heavily influenced by the starting conditions.
Part of the attraction of Linux has been that the user community consists of a select group of highly informed individuals. A few years back, only those "in the know" had heard of the OS at all. Even now, it primarily appeals to those comfortable with OS installs and compiles from the command line. The Dell support for Ubuntu lowers the bar considerably, democratizing access even -- dare I say it -- going so far as to turn AOL users into Linux users. This is indeed a frightening possibility to many, but I am convinced that Dell's support is a good thing and a goal that many Microsoft bashers have advocated but never actually expected to come to pass.
So now we must move on to the next battlefields wherein the truly geeky may differentiate themselves from the huddled masses yearning to break free of their (Redmond wrought) chains. Certainly some will fight bitter battles over which distribution is best. Others might even start using BSD, much to the Netcraft-troll's dismay. Some might even quit whining and start writing some code.
Okay, I admit that last possibility is far fetched, but one can idealistically dream.
...even the most microscopic of punctures in the suits skin must quickly lead to blood curdling screams followed by the astronaught either gratuitiously exploding within their suit, or the suit itself rupturing and spraying copious amounts of gore in all directions
"We've got to find out what people want from fire, how they relate to it, what sort of image it has for them." The crowd were tense. They were expecting something wonderful from Ford [Prefect]. "Stick it up your nose," he said. "Which is precisely the sort of thing we need to know," insisted the girl, "Do people want fire that can be fitted
nasally?"
This is precisely the sort of thing we need to know. We simply instruct the engineering team to build in a rupture detection system allowing rupture events above a specified threshold to trigger the application of pain-causing stimuli to the user and then, after a suitable delay, the detonation of a few shaped charges to perform the expected body rending. Naturally, this feature may meet with some resistance from the targeted user community but I'm sure the advertising department can overcome that. Would you prefer piercing or burning pain?
You might be surprised to learn that this is not the case. Human skin is fairly resistant to vacuum. Abrasion, radiation protection, thermal insulation are more important considerations. Please read this article on space activity suits.
You completely misunderstand. This is the LTS (Lunar Training Simulator) module wherein the trainees must learn to traverse the terrain whilst harvesting morbier and the delicate blu del Mooncenisio. As you can see from the picture, Blue Origin starts the training at a young age. They really are preparing for a lengthy program!
I think you mean stop sharing music through open P2P networks. There are other alternatives that are arguably much more effective and dangerous:
I could, for instance, give you a set of hard drives containing my entire music and video library. You would be able to watch or listen to whatever you wanted before returning the drives. Within the spirit of copyright laws, I would be unable to access the originals or any backups until the drives were returned. If you were to copy the contents, you would be breaking the law but your actions would not be visible to the **AA even though terabytes were transferred.
Alternatively and so far as I know untested legally, I could create a program that allows you to 'borrow' a recording from my library which is streamed to a destination of your choosing. Within the spirit of copyright laws, I would be unable to access the originals or any backups until the lease were over. If you were to copy that stream, you would be breaking the law just as if you'd copied a borrowed physical CD. I could open such a site to the general public if I wanted. If a network of such servers existed, one could listen to virtually any music at any point.
# Has an annoying techno song compsed totally of his lines. Then someone took the time to make a music video by finding the scenes the lines were from, and editing them to fit the song. Crazy.
The problem with advertisements now is that the vast majority of them don't appeal to me. I am a white male age 18-35. That doesn't mean that I fall into any particular demographic, it just means that I may be vaguely interested in some things that others are perhaps also interested. Bzzt. I am an individual!
Don't worry. With the right drugs and marketing programs, that can all be fixed. Soon you'll be a happy, brained-numbed consumer just like the rest of us.
Slashdot Mirror
Simple, because "Math is Hard". That and they're tired of their male colleagues saying, "Byte me", "Mind if I nibble for a bit", and similar worn out expressions as pickup lines.
This is an avenue which has gotten some attention, but you must be realistic about the numbers. First, assume about an hour of time on either side to account for multiple pickups and traffic. This assumes that spaceports exist at major cities. Then consider the economics of on-demand launches. Rockets will he held until there are enough packages. Throw in business hours and, in many cases, overnight with 9:00 AM delivery will be identical in practice.
Rockets offer two potential advantages. First, they will be more effective for long trips (e.g. NY to Sydney). Second, they can get places that planes can't (e.g. Luna, Mars, ...).
Don't hold your breath waiting for FedEx.
How amusing. Thanks for the correction.
Three additional quick comments.
I would like to offer the proposition that scientific humor is targeted for a limited audience and that the form of the publication often parodies that of field-appropriate journals. This later point often makes the joke difficult to translate. It's like having a punchline in a monologue where the timing is badly off. Other elements often depend on an understanding of subtle word play or field specific terminology. This is not to say that scientific humor cannot be understood by non-scientists, but merely that non-scientists are much less likely to find it funny.
One of my personal favorites was published nearly eight years ago. This was a study on diyttrium potassium which was published in Science. I don't have a link to the original (and more humorous -- at least to me -- article), but maybe this one will do.
Should the proposition above not resonate, let me offer this second theory. Scientists generally spend too many hours in the lab, in the field, or at the computer. This has resulted in an atrophied sense of humor such that anything beyond this level of funniness could prove fatal. Believe what you will.
I do recognize that the total mass of comets is larger than the terresterial planets. However, I dispute that the usable volume is as high as the authors might want to claim. Much of the cometary volume is too cold, with short-lived radioisotopes for heating (particularly 26Al). Terresterial planets get consideral benefit from gravitational heating and convection to create long-lived zones with stable temperatures and limited ionizing radiation.
I think we can safely say that the odds of multicelled life developing on comets are very low. Conversely, some biologically relevant molecules do form in comets. The question is how far toward life comets can take you. Skepticism is warrented for any 'origin of life' paper. Multiple by ten for any paper that claims to present a decisive argument (as this one does).
If I understand their argument correctly, the abundance of clay in certain comets provides the template for RNA formation and eventual RNA-based life (with DNA coming later). There may be other factors which are discussed in the actual paper. As such, consider these thoughts preliminary.
There are several factors that would seem to argue against life starting in comets. First of all, planets have a far greater volume than comets with larger and more diverse areas in which life might form. Comets must not only reach planets but deliver their biologics intact. These biologics must then be suitable for propagation in the environment in which they arrive.
That last point is quite important. If comets did provide a birthplace for life, it is quite likely that their cargo would be unable to survive such an abrupt transition. Far more likely is that the life started on the planet in the first place.
The challenge is making a game where everyone can "start a merchant empire, overthrow a king, or build a village". It's easy to do in single player games, but far more difficult when you've got millions of players. Here is the only one that comes close and the graphics are far better than Tabula Rasa. But even in that one, players complain that the outcomes are heavily influenced by the starting conditions.
You can't please everyone.
Part of the attraction of Linux has been that the user community consists of a select group of highly informed individuals. A few years back, only those "in the know" had heard of the OS at all. Even now, it primarily appeals to those comfortable with OS installs and compiles from the command line. The Dell support for Ubuntu lowers the bar considerably, democratizing access even -- dare I say it -- going so far as to turn AOL users into Linux users. This is indeed a frightening possibility to many, but I am convinced that Dell's support is a good thing and a goal that many Microsoft bashers have advocated but never actually expected to come to pass.
So now we must move on to the next battlefields wherein the truly geeky may differentiate themselves from the huddled masses yearning to break free of their (Redmond wrought) chains. Certainly some will fight bitter battles over which distribution is best. Others might even start using BSD, much to the Netcraft-troll's dismay. Some might even quit whining and start writing some code.
Okay, I admit that last possibility is far fetched, but one can idealistically dream.
I recommend that you download the full set of specifications.
/dev/null /dev/null /dev/null /dev/null /dev/null /dev/null /dev/null /dev/null /dev/null /dev/null /dev/null /dev/null /dev/null /dev/null
curl http://www.aacsla.com/specifications/specification _support/AACS_Spec_BD_Prerecorded_0.912_redline_to _0.911.pdf >
curl http://www.aacsla.com/specifications/specification _support/AACS_Spec_BD_Recordable_0_92_redline_to_0 _91.pdf >
curl http://www.aacsla.com/specifications/specification _support/AACS_Spec_HD_DVD_and_DVD_Prerecorded_0_91 2_redline_to_0_911.pdf >
curl http://www.aacsla.com/specifications/specification _support/AACS_Spec_HD_DVD_Recordable_0.921_2006072 5-diff.pdf >
curl http://www.aacsla.com/specifications/specification _support/AACS_Spec_BD_Prerecorded_0.912_change_lis t.pdf >
curl http://www.aacsla.com/specifications/specification _support/AACS_Spec_BD_Recordable_0.92_change_list. pdf >
curl http://www.aacsla.com/specifications/specification _support/AACS_Spec_HD_DVD_and_DVD_Prerecorded_0_91 2_change_list.pdf >
curl http://www.aacsla.com/specifications/specification _support/AACS_Spec_HD_DVD_Recordable_0.921_change_ list.pdf >
curl http://www.aacsla.com/specifications/specs091/AACS _Spec_Common_0.91.pdf >
curl http://www.aacsla.com/specifications/specs091/AACS _Spec_Prerecorded_0.91.pdf >
curl http://www.aacsla.com/specifications/specs091/AACS _Spec_Recordable_0.91.pdf >
curl http://www.aacsla.com/specifications/AACS_Spec_BD_ Prerecorded_0.912.pdf >
curl http://www.aacsla.com/specifications/AACS_Spec_BD_ Recordable_0.92.pdf >
curl http://www.aacsla.com/specifications/AACS_Spec_HD_ DVD_and_DVD_Prerecorded_0_912.pdf >
curl http://www.aacsla.com/specifications/AACS_Spec_HD_
This is precisely the sort of thing we need to know. We simply instruct the engineering team to build in a rupture detection system allowing rupture events above a specified threshold to trigger the application of pain-causing stimuli to the user and then, after a suitable delay, the detonation of a few shaped charges to perform the expected body rending. Naturally, this feature may meet with some resistance from the targeted user community but I'm sure the advertising department can overcome that. Would you prefer piercing or burning pain?
The suits *have* to be airtight.
You might be surprised to learn that this is not the case. Human skin is fairly resistant to vacuum. Abrasion, radiation protection, thermal insulation are more important considerations. Please read this article on space activity suits.
Only cuneiform tablets have truly stood the test of time. Even printed paper can't match the 5 millenia of a solid piece of dried clay.
Thanks for the explanation. Comments like that are why I read /.
THE SEVENTIES MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO HAPPEN AGAIN!
I'm afraid that you're pretty much doomed unless you take the cyanide-coated exit. Only 63 more years to go.
And a potential love affair with Spock. ...
That requires the 'Hot Tranya' mod.
For those who need the (admittedly weak) joke explained, try this.
You completely misunderstand. This is the LTS (Lunar Training Simulator) module wherein the trainees must learn to traverse the terrain whilst harvesting morbier and the delicate blu del Mooncenisio. As you can see from the picture, Blue Origin starts the training at a young age. They really are preparing for a lengthy program!
I think you mean stop sharing music through open P2P networks. There are other alternatives that are arguably much more effective and dangerous:
I could, for instance, give you a set of hard drives containing my entire music and video library. You would be able to watch or listen to whatever you wanted before returning the drives. Within the spirit of copyright laws, I would be unable to access the originals or any backups until the drives were returned. If you were to copy the contents, you would be breaking the law but your actions would not be visible to the **AA even though terabytes were transferred.
Alternatively and so far as I know untested legally, I could create a program that allows you to 'borrow' a recording from my library which is streamed to a destination of your choosing. Within the spirit of copyright laws, I would be unable to access the originals or any backups until the lease were over. If you were to copy that stream, you would be breaking the law just as if you'd copied a borrowed physical CD. I could open such a site to the general public if I wanted. If a network of such servers existed, one could listen to virtually any music at any point.
Food for thought.
# Has an annoying techno song compsed totally of his lines. Then someone took the time to make a music video by finding the scenes the lines were from, and editing them to fit the song. Crazy.
Video Didn't believe it until I saw it.
The problem with advertisements now is that the vast majority of them don't appeal to me. I am a white male age 18-35. That doesn't mean that I fall into any particular demographic, it just means that I may be vaguely interested in some things that others are perhaps also interested. Bzzt. I am an individual!
Don't worry. With the right drugs and marketing programs, that can all be fixed. Soon you'll be a happy, brained-numbed consumer just like the rest of us.
Actually, no. No one needed to say that.
Don't forget that some 750 laws do not apply either in whole or in part to the Bush administration. Unprecedented and dangerous.
Thank you for the link to a very interesting article.
This just confirms what we Texans have known for years...(ducking for cover).
You really have to worry about a place that feels it needs to reassure people that 'Oklahoma is OK'.