Thanks for pointing that out. I had only read about those who were here on valid student visas. (Whether or not those visas should have been issued in the first place is another question... apparently some of the applications were rather open to suspicion - with the benefit of hindsight of course.)
Records of the field direction, frozen into sediments laid down on the seabed, show that the magnetic field has reversed hundreds of times in the past 400 million years.
I would have thought that that alone would indicate that field reversals are not exactly "disasterous" for life on Earth. Poor for human health, maybe, but it's not like we're facing mass extinction.
Actually, given that they're apparently able to identify eras of field reversal in the archeological record, I wonder if anyone has tried to correlate it with periods of extinction or rapid evolution? That would be more interesting to me - at least better than all of the speculation that seems to be going around.
"The goal is to prevent known terrorists from entering the country."
Do they really think this is going to be effective against terrorists? Or is this just another way of saying to the public, "Look, we're doing something! And it's intrusive to your privacy so it must really work!"
How many "known" terrorists enter the US? How many of those enter on stolen passports? As far as I know, all of the Sept. 11 terrorists were: a) unknown as terrorists and b) here on valid passports and visas. This kind of program would have had no effect on preventing them from entering.
On the other hand, many people do enter the US on forged documents, particularly people from poorer countries who come here illegally, looking for work. I could see how this kind of biometric ID could help identify such illegal immigrants, if that were the goal. But I just wish people would stop trying to tie everything in to the "war on terrorism" - it distracts from the real problems that this kind of technology might be useful for.
Re:Isn't the point of velcro
on
Metal Velcro
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· Score: 2, Insightful
I think they would use it for applications in which you don't want to ever pull it apart. The mention of artificial joints in the article is a good example of that. I wonder if this is safer and/or more reliable than adhesives for use in medicine...
There are probably other industry applications where you want to join metals and composites also. I imagine that having a permanent strong bond is often more desirable than the ability to take it apart again.
Other applications?
on
Metal Velcro
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· Score: 4, Interesting
That's pretty impressive, even if it's not the hook-and-eye structure that the word "velcro" first brought to mind.
I'm sure there must be other applications besides bonding that would benefit from increased surface area. Heatsinks, maybe?
McGill's scientists designed a game in which the user must click on smiley faces that zoom across the screen on clouds. Playing for just five minutes a day gives self-confidence a major boost.
If that's all it takes, sign me up! It sounds fun, but I have a feeling that the "boost" that comes from clicking zooming smiley faces may not lead to the real self-confidence people need. Feeling happier in the short term and relieving stress are admirable goals, but I don't think there's ever going to be a replacement for the confidence building that comes from positive real-life interactions.
Under the new system, Ciganer said in a telephone interview, errors that were discovered in the transition could show up multiple times in the accounting process: once as an erroneous credit in one column, then as a debit to delete the error, then as a credit in the correct column. By this reckoning, a $40 billion contract that stretched over nine years and several separate NASA centers generated $120 billion worth of entries, and these were turned over to the auditors.
If I understand it correctly, that paragraph would make it seem that the number $565 billion actually double- or triple-counts the amount of money that is poorly accounted for. Of course, $200+ billion is still not pocket change...
I'm wondering though - they don't actually say what part of that process was the problem. Making appropriate debits and credits to correct errors seems reasonable to me, but all I have to balance is my checkbook. Is there some other way to correct errors in the books? Or should NASA presumably have not been making errors to begin with?
Maybe they should have been using some of that $565 billion to hire better accountants?
In my opinion, this kind of missile defense system - which is ambitious yet still very far from reliable - gives a threatening impression to hostile countries while giving a false impression of security here. It could easily spark an arms race as other countries develop missiles than can penetrate the defense.
Each second, a sensor in the heel can take up to 20,000 readings and the embedded electronic brain can make 10,000 calculations, directing a tiny electric motor to change the shoe. The goal is to make the shoe adjust to changing conditions and the runner's particular style while in use.
20000 readings per second seems like more than enough... but the article makes no mention of how fast the motor can respond to that information. Does the shoe adjust each fraction of a second, changing as the foot hits the ground and pushes off, or does the shoe just adjust to gradual changes like the running surface? I somehow doubt it's the former, and if it's the latter, I don't see any advantage over buying a set of regular running shoes designed for a particular use. I can only see these shoes being useful if someone wants to wear the same pair on a large variety of courses (on road, off road, gravel, etc.) but in that case I wonder if that's the kind of person who wants to spend big bucks on their sneakers...
Quite true, but given the choice between having my shoes adjust to stepping on a rock or having my feet do it the old-fashioned way by sending thousands of pain signals to my brain, I think I'll go with the shoe...
General Relativity is mathematically quite elegant, yet there is little physical observable evidence to verify it.
I beg to differ... In addition to the precession of Mercury, which you mention, there is a huge amount of physical evidence in agreement with the predictions of GR. For example:
1. Measurement of time dilation (gravitational redshift) in the Earth's gravitational field, and in light from the sun, other stars, white dwarfs, and neutron stars. The accuracy of GPS depends on taking this effect into account.
2. Gravitational lensing of stars in line with the sun, of galaxies in line with one another, of galaxies lensed by the gravitational field of extended foreground clusters, etc.
3. Orbital decay of binary pulsars, such as PSR 1913+16, due to gravitational radiation. The slowdown rate can be measured very precisely and corresponds exactly to what GR predicts. In addition, LIGO will hopefully be sensitive enough to detect gravitational waves directly within the next few years.
In every instance where measurements are accurate enough to confirm the predictions of the theory, they match. The question of which scientific theory is the "most" well-tested is probably a matter of opinion, but I wouldn't be too quick to dismiss GR on the basis of lack of hard evidence.
True. I probably should have been clearer, but I meant to ask whether NASA has any kind of updated estimate of how much life is left in the rover, given that it hasn't kicked the bucket yet. From what I understand the only hard limit on the lifetime is that the solar panels' output decreases as they accumulate dust, but I'm sure there are other contributing factors as well...
I wonder what the expected lifetime of the Opportunity rover is now? If they are not expecting it to hold up much longer anyway, I don't see any reason not to send it down into the crater to investigate for as long as it can. Are there other interesting sites within its expected range?
Cockapoo (pronounced KOK-a-poo); noun,definition - As the name brings to mind, a cross between cocker spaniel a nd poodle. A wonderful hybrid now being brought to status as its own breed through the documentation of the genetic database. A dog of outstanding intelligence, wonderful disposition, abounding affection, low to no shedding or 'doggy' odor, easily trained and long lived. A dog that is amazingly forgiving of the indiscretions of small children with a keen intelligence any adult can appreciate. Cockapoos come in a myriad of colors and a range of sizes to fit any families desires.
Shielding kids from Violence will only make them unprepaired when their put in a violent situation
Somehow I don't think video games help anyone deal better with the kind of violence one is likely to encounter in real life. Of course violence and death exist in the real world - but the whole point of shielding kids from fantasy violence is that it is so unlike real life that it gives a false impression of the consequences. It might desensitize people to violence, but that doesn't make them more prepared to deal with it.
I didn't use the word "better," I said "more appropriate," which (in the words of the Oxford English Dictionary) is defined as more "specially fitted or suitable to." You don't think a phrase spoken by a Klingon would be more suitable to a film about people speaking Klingon?
And why does "Who said it first?" matter in the slightest bit? Is there some unwritten rule somewhere that when somebody says it, nobody else can think it?
I didn't say they aren't allowed to use that as a title if they want... It just seems likely that there are plenty of more appropriate choices for the film. (Not knowing Klingon myself, I'm afraid I can't offer any examples, but I'm sure the people in the documentary could have come up with something.)
Uh, why would it have been better to pick a Klingon spoken line?
Uh, maybe because the article is about a documentary of "members of the Klingon Language Institute"?
Surely they could have picked a Klingon phrase for the title? The "ugly bags of mostly water" comes from the "Home Soil" episode where a crystal "brain" uses it to describe humans.
When someone writes a popular science book that is breathtaking in the way of, say, "One Hundred Years of Solitude," I would be happy to see the author win a Nobel Prize. In the meantime, there are plenty of other prizes specifically for non-fiction. They don't have million-dollar awards, but if you're only doing it for the prize money, chances are your writing doesn't meet the criteria of "idealistic tendencies" that the Nobel literature prize specifies...
There is a similar product already on the market for cats. I have to wonder, though, whether long-term use would be harmful, for example by desensitizing the animal to certain pheremones. If a cat or dog suddenly finds that everything smells "comforting", you might end up a few years later with an even more nervous animal that doesn't feel comfortable anywhere. I think I'll stick to old fashioned training with my cats...
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Thanks for pointing that out. I had only read about those who were here on valid student visas. (Whether or not those visas should have been issued in the first place is another question... apparently some of the applications were rather open to suspicion - with the benefit of hindsight of course.)
I would have thought that that alone would indicate that field reversals are not exactly "disasterous" for life on Earth. Poor for human health, maybe, but it's not like we're facing mass extinction.
Actually, given that they're apparently able to identify eras of field reversal in the archeological record, I wonder if anyone has tried to correlate it with periods of extinction or rapid evolution? That would be more interesting to me - at least better than all of the speculation that seems to be going around.
Do they really think this is going to be effective against terrorists? Or is this just another way of saying to the public, "Look, we're doing something! And it's intrusive to your privacy so it must really work!"
How many "known" terrorists enter the US? How many of those enter on stolen passports? As far as I know, all of the Sept. 11 terrorists were: a) unknown as terrorists and b) here on valid passports and visas. This kind of program would have had no effect on preventing them from entering.
On the other hand, many people do enter the US on forged documents, particularly people from poorer countries who come here illegally, looking for work. I could see how this kind of biometric ID could help identify such illegal immigrants, if that were the goal. But I just wish people would stop trying to tie everything in to the "war on terrorism" - it distracts from the real problems that this kind of technology might be useful for.
I think they would use it for applications in which you don't want to ever pull it apart. The mention of artificial joints in the article is a good example of that. I wonder if this is safer and/or more reliable than adhesives for use in medicine...
There are probably other industry applications where you want to join metals and composites also. I imagine that having a permanent strong bond is often more desirable than the ability to take it apart again.
That's pretty impressive, even if it's not the hook-and-eye structure that the word "velcro" first brought to mind.
I'm sure there must be other applications besides bonding that would benefit from increased surface area. Heatsinks, maybe?
If that's all it takes, sign me up! It sounds fun, but I have a feeling that the "boost" that comes from clicking zooming smiley faces may not lead to the real self-confidence people need. Feeling happier in the short term and relieving stress are admirable goals, but I don't think there's ever going to be a replacement for the confidence building that comes from positive real-life interactions.
Ok, someone didn't click the link before modding this informative. And I wish I hadn't either... Ew.
If I understand it correctly, that paragraph would make it seem that the number $565 billion actually double- or triple-counts the amount of money that is poorly accounted for. Of course, $200+ billion is still not pocket change...
I'm wondering though - they don't actually say what part of that process was the problem. Making appropriate debits and credits to correct errors seems reasonable to me, but all I have to balance is my checkbook. Is there some other way to correct errors in the books? Or should NASA presumably have not been making errors to begin with?
Maybe they should have been using some of that $565 billion to hire better accountants?
In my opinion, this kind of missile defense system - which is ambitious yet still very far from reliable - gives a threatening impression to hostile countries while giving a false impression of security here. It could easily spark an arms race as other countries develop missiles than can penetrate the defense.
A waste of money all around...
Each second, a sensor in the heel can take up to 20,000 readings and the embedded electronic brain can make 10,000 calculations, directing a tiny electric motor to change the shoe. The goal is to make the shoe adjust to changing conditions and the runner's particular style while in use.
20000 readings per second seems like more than enough... but the article makes no mention of how fast the motor can respond to that information. Does the shoe adjust each fraction of a second, changing as the foot hits the ground and pushes off, or does the shoe just adjust to gradual changes like the running surface? I somehow doubt it's the former, and if it's the latter, I don't see any advantage over buying a set of regular running shoes designed for a particular use. I can only see these shoes being useful if someone wants to wear the same pair on a large variety of courses (on road, off road, gravel, etc.) but in that case I wonder if that's the kind of person who wants to spend big bucks on their sneakers...
Quite true, but given the choice between having my shoes adjust to stepping on a rock or having my feet do it the old-fashioned way by sending thousands of pain signals to my brain, I think I'll go with the shoe...
General Relativity is mathematically quite elegant, yet there is little physical observable evidence to verify it.
I beg to differ... In addition to the precession of Mercury, which you mention, there is a huge amount of physical evidence in agreement with the predictions of GR. For example:
1. Measurement of time dilation (gravitational redshift) in the Earth's gravitational field, and in light from the sun, other stars, white dwarfs, and neutron stars. The accuracy of GPS depends on taking this effect into account.
2. Gravitational lensing of stars in line with the sun, of galaxies in line with one another, of galaxies lensed by the gravitational field of extended foreground clusters, etc.
3. Orbital decay of binary pulsars, such as PSR 1913+16, due to gravitational radiation. The slowdown rate can be measured very precisely and corresponds exactly to what GR predicts. In addition, LIGO will hopefully be sensitive enough to detect gravitational waves directly within the next few years.
In every instance where measurements are accurate enough to confirm the predictions of the theory, they match. The question of which scientific theory is the "most" well-tested is probably a matter of opinion, but I wouldn't be too quick to dismiss GR on the basis of lack of hard evidence.
True. I probably should have been clearer, but I meant to ask whether NASA has any kind of updated estimate of how much life is left in the rover, given that it hasn't kicked the bucket yet. From what I understand the only hard limit on the lifetime is that the solar panels' output decreases as they accumulate dust, but I'm sure there are other contributing factors as well...
I wonder what the expected lifetime of the Opportunity rover is now? If they are not expecting it to hold up much longer anyway, I don't see any reason not to send it down into the crater to investigate for as long as it can. Are there other interesting sites within its expected range?
Cockapoo (pronounced KOK-a-poo); noun,definition - As the name brings to mind, a cross between cocker spaniel a nd poodle. A wonderful hybrid now being brought to status as its own breed through the documentation of the genetic database. A dog of outstanding intelligence, wonderful disposition, abounding affection, low to no shedding or 'doggy' odor, easily trained and long lived. A dog that is amazingly forgiving of the indiscretions of small children with a keen intelligence any adult can appreciate. Cockapoos come in a myriad of colors and a range of sizes to fit any families desires.
Thank you Google...
Shielding kids from Violence will only make them unprepaired when their put in a violent situation
Somehow I don't think video games help anyone deal better with the kind of violence one is likely to encounter in real life. Of course violence and death exist in the real world - but the whole point of shielding kids from fantasy violence is that it is so unlike real life that it gives a false impression of the consequences. It might desensitize people to violence, but that doesn't make them more prepared to deal with it.
Haha... Thanks - I was hoping someone would post a suggestion! :)
Define 'better'.
I didn't use the word "better," I said "more appropriate," which (in the words of the Oxford English Dictionary) is defined as more "specially fitted or suitable to." You don't think a phrase spoken by a Klingon would be more suitable to a film about people speaking Klingon?
And why does "Who said it first?" matter in the slightest bit? Is there some unwritten rule somewhere that when somebody says it, nobody else can think it?
I didn't say they aren't allowed to use that as a title if they want... It just seems likely that there are plenty of more appropriate choices for the film. (Not knowing Klingon myself, I'm afraid I can't offer any examples, but I'm sure the people in the documentary could have come up with something.)
Uh, why would it have been better to pick a Klingon spoken line? Uh, maybe because the article is about a documentary of "members of the Klingon Language Institute"?
Or both? But having all 7 seasons of Next Generation on DVD (and no TV for distraction by lesser shows) does help...
Surely they could have picked a Klingon phrase for the title? The "ugly bags of mostly water" comes from the "Home Soil" episode where a crystal "brain" uses it to describe humans.
When someone writes a popular science book that is breathtaking in the way of, say, "One Hundred Years of Solitude," I would be happy to see the author win a Nobel Prize. In the meantime, there are plenty of other prizes specifically for non-fiction. They don't have million-dollar awards, but if you're only doing it for the prize money, chances are your writing doesn't meet the criteria of "idealistic tendencies" that the Nobel literature prize specifies...
Given the choice, I think I would prefer a natural calming scent to a highly addictive benzodiazepine drug...
There is a similar product already on the market for cats. I have to wonder, though, whether long-term use would be harmful, for example by desensitizing the animal to certain pheremones. If a cat or dog suddenly finds that everything smells "comforting", you might end up a few years later with an even more nervous animal that doesn't feel comfortable anywhere. I think I'll stick to old fashioned training with my cats...