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User: Bob-taro

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  1. Re:Hmm.. on Dolphin Inspired Mini-sub · · Score: 1

    "TFA doesn't mention anything about how deep it can go."

    Well, if it can go max 20mph underwater and can only last 20 sec "below snorkel depth" before the engine cuts out and it starts to float back up, it can't have a dive depth over 600 ft. Actually, I'm sure it's much less than that because you probably can't go 20 mph straight down, working against the craft's buoyancy.

    And BTW, why don't my <quote> and <p> tags work the same way anymore?

  2. Re:Not much you can do on Cost-Effective Server Room Air Conditioning? · · Score: 1

    nothing but helium for mine

    ... he said in a squeaky, chipmunk-like voice.

  3. Re:Carbon Dating on Nuclear Decay May Vary With Earth-Sun Distance · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Also, it is only these two isotopes that are mentioned, presumably because most other isotopes tested do not have this sort of periodic effect.

    I wouldn't presume that. The very thing that makes this so interesting is that "the modulations are synchronised with each other and with Earth's distance from the sun." To me, that makes it likely to be a general effect on all radioactive materials. I don't know if this will lead to anything that supports a young earth theory, but it'll be interesting to see what comes from it. The article also mentions:

    It turns out, that the notion of that nuclear decay rates are constant has been under attack for some time. In 2006, Jenkins says the decay rate of manganese-54 in their lab decreased dramtically during a solar flare on 13 December.

    This is a good example of how many holes there might be in our theories about the universe. We have been making measurements for a few 1000 years in one solar system (mostly just on one planet) and things that we don't see changing, like radioactive decay rates, we consider constant. It's exciting to think how much more there may still be to discover.

  4. Re:You too can be an armchair scientist. on Scientists Discover Cows Point North · · Score: 1

    I don't know, but from reading the article, it doesn't sound like they looked into much other than making conclusions from Google Earth. What about the fact that aeriel photography is done during certain times of the day or during certain seasons. Surely those have an effect on cows.

    FTA:

    Huge variations in the wind direction and sunlight in the areas where the beasts were found meant that the scientists were able to rule out those factors as being responsible for the direction they were facing.

    "We conclude that the magnetic field is the only common and most likely factor responsible for the observed alignment," the scientists wrote in an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.

    I get your point, but they did at least consider some other possibilities.

  5. Re:Cameras at every toll booth on California's Wireless Road Tolls Easily Hackable · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Um, no. Better no one doing it. Running reds isn't like going 10 mph over the speed limit. People die from that. A lot. It really shouldn't be about the income.

    I'd say that depends on how long it's been red. If you mis-time a short yellow and are in the intersection when it turns red, that's not too dangerous. No more than driving 10mph over (which may be why the yellow light seemed so "short"). That's one problem with automatic ticketing systems - they can't put the incident in context very well.

  6. Re:Well that's embarassing on Rosetta Disk Designed For 2,000 Years Archive · · Score: 1

    The problem is that there is far too much factual info in there and well the fictional/scifi elements get drowned out. ... You could have a fictional story happen in a realistic setting and that doesn't make the story factual. Though 2000 years latter, if they find the setting, they may assume parts/pieces of the story are true.

    Really? Yet you seem quite confident in your ability to judge which bits are true and which aren't. Why do you think people in the future would be any different?

  7. Re:It can be both.. kindof. on Olympic Opening Ceremony Fireworks Were (Partly) Faked · · Score: 1

    It was a pun: "feat" -> "feet".

  8. Re:It can be both.. kindof. on Olympic Opening Ceremony Fireworks Were (Partly) Faked · · Score: 1

    On the other hand, I honestly believe they could have done it all on their own, too. Human beings are capable of some remarkable feats.

    But they just said the remarkable human feets were computer generated!

  9. Re:Don't blow. Use rubbing alcohol. on $12 MIT Computer Based On NES, Not Apple II · · Score: 1

    I'm not sure it degrades contact, but I'd guess it does.

    My car battery says, yes, copper corrosion degrades contact!

  10. Re:Not much details... on MIT Team Working On a $12 Apple (II) Desktop · · Score: 1

    All TFA says that it is loosly based on the Apple II. So what does that mean? Have the same CPU? Same OS? Same amount of RAM? Looks like the Apple II?

    Good question. Based on the price, I would assume there WON'T be any proprietary software on it. And if they're going with a different OS, I wouldn't think they'd need to faithfully emulate the original CPU, either. My guess is that they just mean "comparable" hardware in terms of computing power, probably a system on a chip.

  11. Re:Anyone else find that quote hilarious? on A Quasi-Quasicrystal · · Score: 1

    "We're...100%....80%....60%..." Add a few more even 'less certain' words, like "surely", "perhaps", "maybe" and the confidence in his assertion would have dropped from 100% certainty all the way to 0% certainty in a single sentence.

    I think what they're trying to say is that 60% of the time, it works every time.

  12. Re:This is great news! on Windows Is Dead – Long Live Midori? · · Score: 1

    Err.... Obviously they named it after the color blue/green

    I haven't noticed "midori" being used to mean "blue", but I have noticed "aoi" (usually translated "blue") being used to mean "green".

  13. Trivia ... on Windows Is Dead – Long Live Midori? · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "Midori" is Japanese for "green". It is also a common female first name.

    I don't know how either would apply to an OS, unless it has some connection to this.

  14. Re:Too bad on Have Modern Gamers Lost the Patience For Puzzles? · · Score: 1

    Perhaps if you had to do both that might level the playing field for the "smart" people who can do the puzzles and the "fraggers" with inhuman reflexes?

    Online Multiplayer Portal Deathmatch FTW!

  15. Notebook computers? on $1,000 Spray Makes Gadgets Waterproof · · Score: 1

    I can't imagine a waterproofing spray being a good thing for anything with cooling fans.

  16. That can't be right ... on No Gap Found In Math Abilities of Girls, Boys · · Score: 1

    ... I'll bet they had some girls calculate the survey results.

  17. Re:And to think. . . on Online Colleges Could Spy On Students – By Law · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why should the government create a law that requires that schools enforce no-cheating?

    It's so some politician can brag, "I worked with congress to pass a law that eliminated cheating in American universities!"

  18. Re:Good on The Death of Nearly All Software Patents? · · Score: 1

    It's not even "like", it is patenting math. Software is math.

    So your argument is:
    math is unpatentable
    software is math
    therefore, software is unpatentable

    By that kind of argument, you could say that machines are not patentable because "machines are physics". But you don't patent a machine anyway, you patent a design. Software has a design. You can patent circuits can't you? Why not software?

  19. Re:3 minutes? on Ultra-Light Micro Air Vehicles · · Score: 1

    Now imagine a cluster of these all flying autonomously......

    A Beowulf cluster, right? But can they even run linux?

  20. Re:Instant Global Warming on Floating Cities On Venus · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Probably. I can't imagine Mercury having much of an atmosphere at all above 50km.

    Venus's atmospheric pressure at 50km is close to Earth's at the surface, according to the article.

  21. Re:End up in court on Louisiana Passes Intelligent Design Law · · Score: 1

    I find it very, very frustrating when the state legislature decides the particulars of what I should teach in the classroom. This bill does not specifically force me, a LA teacher, to teach ID, or the mythical status of global warming, but it does represent law makers meddling in an area they are not experts.

    It may not be their area of expertise, but the public schools ARE their business, so "meddling" may be a strong word. I prefer to call most of what they do in the private sector "meddling". Still, I can understand complaining about the decision PROCESS here, OTOH I don't think they should leave the curriculum completely up to each individual teacher, either.

    As a science teacher, my job is to teach science. I teach how to do science, not just words and definitions. I can't even begin to teach ID as science because it is not testable. I teach science as a method of answering questions through experiment and analysis of result. There is no way to do this reliably or reproducibly with ID because God doesn't settle down into a test tube very well.

    So how do you "do" evolution in the classroom?

  22. Re:I guess ID really isn't creationism then.. on Louisiana Passes Intelligent Design Law · · Score: 0

    Once again, a legislature tries to impose dogmatic/orthodox beliefs on others.

    Why is banning organized prayer or any religious instruction in schools called "freedom", but merely ALLOWING the teaching of ID called "imposing dogmatic beliefs on others"?

  23. Re:We had one. on Senate Passes Telecom Immunity Bill · · Score: 1

    Don't you remember 2006? When the largest upheaval in Congressional history

    Are you sure it was the largest upheavel? Do you mean the largest shift in composition by party? I didn't scan all the way through the chart, but the 1994 election was a much bigger shift (though in the opposite direction).

  24. Re:Ha! See! I told you! on Ray Gun Puts Voices Inside Your Head · · Score: 1

    Saying your eardrums can "self-destruct" as a protective mechanism seems a bit like saying your body will self-destruct to protect you from the pain of being caught in an explosion ... but I think I get your point. Still, I don't think the ray gun would be different. If you perceive sound, it is due to the bones in your inner ear vibrating. The big difference from "normal" sound is that you can't stop it by covering your ears, because the vibrations are starting in your skull (maybe you *could* stop it by covering your whole head with something). I would think that it could cause hearing loss, just like an external noise.

  25. Re:Ha! See! I told you! on Ray Gun Puts Voices Inside Your Head · · Score: 1

    ... could be used to torture people and leave absolutely no physical evidence behind, ever?

    I wonder, would it be any worse torture or any less detectable than, say, blasting regular noise into a prisoner's cell at high volume?