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  1. Re: Did the value exist at all if it disappeared? on Forbes Just Cut Its Estimate of Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes's Net Worth From $4.5 Billion To Zero (qz.com) · · Score: 2

    First off your reply doesn't follow in this thread. That aside, you should read the article. The company was devalued to 10%, which was only just above the amount obtained from VC money. Since they have preferential stock and get paid out first, she does have a zero net worth as she would get paid nothing after the investors get paid first.

  2. Re: Why is there such a lack of diversity, though? on New GitHub Upgrades Respond To Recent Complaints (thenewstack.io) · · Score: 1

    When you test for an infection, you don't look for the infection itself, but the antibodies that fight the infection. No antibodies, no infection.

  3. Re: disclosure on How One Climate-Change Skeptic Has Profited From Corporate Interests · · Score: 1

    It is standard practice to put the funding agency in the acknowledgment section of scientific papers. That has been the case in every scientific paper I have ever written and read. Any paper that does not state the funding source should be rejected from journal. If it was falsely left off the paper should be retracted.

  4. Re:Natural Gas & Coal on San Onofre's Closure: What Was Missed · · Score: 1

    Looking at the energy flow diagrams from LLNL https://flowcharts.llnl.gov/energy.html#2011 they only have the state-by-state breakdown for 2008 https://flowcharts.llnl.gov/content/energy/energy_archive/energy_flow_2008/2008StateEnergy.pdf. The total electricity generation from renewable (solar,hydro,wind,geothermal) comes to 6.6+237.8+53.1+270.8 = 568.3 BTU. As a fraction of the electricity generation of 1907.9 BTU this comes to 29.8%. Seems a little closer than half-way there already. But since we are only talking about increasing solar and wind, they would need an extra 67.7 BTU to meet this target, so if they doubled wind, and tripled solar then they would reach this target, so your comment of "aren't half-way there yet", makes sense if you look at it this way.

  5. Re:That Moment on 350-Year-Old Newton's Puzzle Solved By 16-Year-Old · · Score: 1

    Well I'm a physicist, and I usually don't believe any numerical solution unless I have an analytical solution to an approximation of the numerical problem which I can compare the numerical solution to. Analytical solutions provide extremely useful benchmarks for verifying and validating numerical solutions.

  6. Re:Hmmm on 8 Grams of Thorium Could Replace Gasoline In Cars · · Score: 2

    There are two things wrong with the statement "rare earth mineral". First off it's an actinide not a rare earth, it's not that it is not generally considered a rare earth, it just isn't, full stop. Also it's an element not a mineral.

  7. Re:What the hell? on The Push For Colbert's "Restoring Truthiness" Rally · · Score: 1

    If you're not concerned about the environment & pollution here's an experiment you can try. Go into your garage, make sure all doors are closed, turn your car on... wait...

    Let me know how it goes...

    I did exactly as you said, I went into my garage, made sure all the doors are closed. Turned on my Tesla. I'm waiting, now what?

  8. Re:Self-fulfilling prophecies on Econophysicists Develop and Test "Bubble Index" · · Score: 3, Informative

    The point is to not allow the bubble to happen in the first place, not to be the first to predict the bubble crashing. If the bubble can be prevented, then panic selling won't happen. When the market bubbles, and then crashes, it doesn't go to an artificial low, it just drops the the point at which steady growth would have taken it. By predicting possible bubbles and preventing them, you should be able to get steadier growth.

  9. Re:Self-fulfilling prophecies on Econophysicists Develop and Test "Bubble Index" · · Score: 5, Insightful

    But they don't want the bubble to happen, that's the point. By being able to predict that bubbles are happening, the markets can sell off sooner, rather than allowing the bubble to continue growing, and thus once the sell-off happens, it is not such a dramatic down-shift, since the prices were not allowed to rise to artificial highs.

  10. Re:NIF is about nuclear weaponry, not energy. on National Ignition Facility Fires 192-Beam Pulse · · Score: 1

    So you are saying that we should throw all our eggs in one basket because you think one idea is generations ahead of the other, and forget about other approaches. How amazingly short sighted of you. Why does it have to be one instead of the other ? Why not look to the future beyond magnetic confinement reactors? Or you are so sure that this will be the answer to all our problems that we should stop research into everything else?

  11. Re:Inertial confinement vs. magnetic confinement on National Ignition Facility Fires 192-Beam Pulse · · Score: 1

    You can't tell me that there isn't a very deliberate marketing plan being put into action here.

    Of course there is, but NIF is already funded. LIFE is just beginning and needs more funding, so you need to advertise it, which starts with NIF.

  12. Re:NIF is about nuclear weaponry, not energy. on National Ignition Facility Fires 192-Beam Pulse · · Score: 1

    Unfortunately, National Ignition Facility has nothing to do with energy production and everything to do with nuclear weaponry.

    It does have a lot to do with energy production. It is the first step towards LIFE.

    LIFE, an acronym for Laser Inertial Fusion-Fission Energy, is an advanced energy concept under development at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Based on physics and technology developed for the National Ignition Facility (NIF), LIFE has the potential to meet future worldwide energy needs in a safe, sustainable manner without carbon dioxide emissions.

  13. Re:Sorry, can't get worked up over it on National Ignition Facility Fires 192-Beam Pulse · · Score: 1

    Its funded by the DOD, not DOE. Its primarily for research and stockpile stewardship. NIF isn't intended to be a prototype fusion reactor for energy production.

    LLNL is funded by NNSA which is part of DOE.

    Yes it is primarily for research and stockpile stewardship, but it is also the first step towards LIFE , which is a prototype reactor.

  14. Re:Inertial confinement vs. magnetic confinement on National Ignition Facility Fires 192-Beam Pulse · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Let's be clear here. The purpose of the NIF is not to achieve fusion for energy production purposes. They just sell it that way.

    They are not trying to sell NIF as the fusion energy production. It is the first step on a long road in that direction.

    They are selling LIFE as the fusion energy of the future, this will be built on techonology developed for NIF.

    From the link

    LIFE, an acronym for Laser Inertial Fusion-Fission Energy, is an advanced energy concept under development at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Based on physics and technology developed for the National Ignition Facility (NIF), LIFE has the potential to meet future worldwide energy needs in a safe, sustainable manner without carbon dioxide emissions.

  15. Re:Rare Earth Elements? on Supplies of Rare Earth Elements Exhausted By 2017 · · Score: 4, Informative

    The article actually never mentions "rare earth" materials. The slashdot article title is the only time the two words "rare earth" appear together. I think this is just a poor choice of words to describe materials that are becoming rare on our planet earth.

  16. Re:Science 2.0? on A New Kind of Science Collaboration · · Score: 2, Funny

    No, no. Science 1.0 was the development version, Science 2.0 is the buggy version. I'm waiting for at least Science 2.1.

  17. Re:I want an engineering sample. on Smart Rubber Promises Self-Mending Products · · Score: 1
    You would need to put some sort of skin over this to keep it from self-reparing in ways it wasn't meant to.

    The material only self heals if it cut and and then rejoined in the same place. The hydrogen bonds are not present on the whole surface, but only exist on the newly formed surface - ready to be rejoined - for approx 18 hours. They made a nice metaphor of the hydrogen bonds being like hands that hold on to each other and when the material is cut the hands let go, but then are on the surface waving about ready to hold hands again if another hand comes near, but after the 18 hours of being left hanging the hands turn round and flip you off.

  18. Most powerful laser in the World = NIF on U of MI Produces Strongest Laser Ever · · Score: 1
    some of the researchers speculate

    Maybe some of the researchers should do some research into their speculations, it's not even the most powerful laser in the US.

    The National Ignition Facility (NIF) https://lasers.llnl.gov/ at LLNL is orders of magnitude larger than this and its not even fully up and running yet https://publicaffairs.llnl.gov/news/news_releases/2007/NR-07-11-05.html

  19. Re:Of course they want to restrict SSN# on Congress To Restrict Social Security Number Use · · Score: 2, Funny
    How else did you think they'd justify injecting RFID tags into our heads?

    What, they haven't started this already ?

    I just pulled out my teeth.

  20. Re:No shit on Thinking About Desktop Eyecandy · · Score: 1
    Oh, but the power users that don't put any useful information in their prompts or terminal titles do go out of their way to display a running count of the number of times they pressed the enter key. That has always baffled me, and is a sign of weakness in my opinion.

    Ever heard of history substitution, quite useful to now what number your command prompt is.

  21. Re:Currently not worth the educational investment on U.S. Science Gap Fictional? · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Bah. If they haven't owned a home that's because they chose not to. I'm 36 and I've owned a home for 12 years.

    Bullshit. Since you have had you own house for so long you haven't got out much, and I am guessing since you got a house at 24 you aren't a scientist.

    I'm pushing 30 in the next few days and I am a scientist and I have never had the chance to buy a house. Can't afford to buy a house as a student, I got my PhD at 25 relatively young. Back in England the cheapest 1 bedroom houses where around 5 times my sallary as a Post-Doc, more than a mortgage will lend you. Then you have the problem of moving every 2 years as a Post-Doc anyway, cause thats what you have to do as a scientist, so you are never going to be in 1 place long enough to buy a house until your mid-thirties, meanwhile, as you pointed out, I have been paying the higher price of renting losing even more money from my already pathetic sallary.

    And society will continue to treat me like shit, because scientist are one of the few people that will put up with it for the love of the work.

  22. Re:Pfft! Why do Bees fly? on Scientists Figure Out How Bees Fly · · Score: 1
    Teleportation explains how they always manage to be inside your car, even when the windows were all the way up.

    Then how did you get in the car?

    I suppose you teleported your way in, didn't you.

  23. Re:only winner on The Math Behind the Hybrid Hype · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This is where it's the governments job to fix taxes so that the 'free market' can decide on the "correct" choice. If you increase tax on the more polluting fuels the the cleaner fuels become a more economic viable option and the free market will then choose it. This has been happening in the UK with very large tax on petrol to force people to use public transport, car share, etc. Unfortunately, the US politics is run by oil companies, so until you take the business out of politics, then the correct choice for mankind will not be chosen.

  24. Re:Only a pothead could mistake a human for a rat on Cannabinoids Induce Brain Cell Growth? · · Score: 1

    Well it did get picked up in Nature news. http://www.nature.com/news/2005/051010/full/051010 -12.html

  25. Re:inaccurate on U.S. Moves to Kill Leap Seconds · · Score: 1
    It would make much more sense to use more accurate measuring system like one that bases on half-life of isotopes.

    It already is. Scientists already define the second as follows ....

    It is the length of time taken for 9192631770 periods of vibration of the caesium-133 atom to occur. http://www.ex.ac.uk/cimt/dictunit/dictunit.htm