So I'm to believe a no-name (I've never heard of the "Washington Examiner", how many pulitzer prizes has it won) OPINION piece? Sounds like another bit of "Fake News" that those less well-educated fall for. That's the problem with many conservatives, they mistake opinion for fact and then they don't have the ability to judge what is important. You know there is a thing called quality in journalism, good journalism will often bring speak truth to power and bring down anyone of any political persuasion (like Harvey Weinstein). How many powerful people has the "Washington Examiner" examined to the extent they've been taken down?
At least you see the massacre of Russian mercenaries as a good thing. I only wish it were a couple hundred (maybe a few dozen). Still, I don't really think Traitor Trump knew anything about it until it was too late, otherwise I'm sure he would have told his idol Putin to get out of harms way.
Don't put words in my mouth, I didn't say Russia "hacked the election" (although do a google search for previous attempts). However, as the 13 indictments show (these are Facts by the way, not fake), there is some serious evidence that they manipulated American opinion on the behalf of Russia for Traitor Trump's gain. Again they focusing on those less well educated (aka "stupid"*). It is serious, in that these people if convicted will spend some prison time and from what I have heard, special prosecutors don't bring these kind of charges lightly. By the way, why don't you google the recent study that shows how many conservatives fell for identified "Fake News" as opposed to liberals, it was I believe a ratio of like 13:1.
*you know, I have to call a spade a spade and let's face it; BY AND LARGE people who try to get a college education are smarter than those who don't or won't. So, if you want our country to be elected by (and presumably run by) idiots you're on the right track.
.."preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States" (presidential oath of office)
So by NOT ordering the NSA to go after the Russians for their very well documented (13 indictments so far) interference, one wonders what, exactly he plans to do. The sanctions Congress approved (over his objections) have, so far, largely not been implemented and, barring some secret action it seems like he is going out of his way to spare Putin.
What exactly does Putin have on him? Does that infamous "dossier" actually contain some facts? Videos? Or is it simply to subjugate the interests of the United States in order to get rich(er) from various well documented real estate deals he has around the globe. Isn't that the very definition of being a traitor, getting rich by betraying your country?
Or is he (and perhaps a lot of his supporters) so stupid to believe that the Russians didn't hack the election and aren't seeking to divide the U.S.? That it's all just a "guy sitting on their bed who weighs 400 pounds"?
If we receive some messages from E.T. we should destroy them upon receiving... That's according to some astrophysicists who depict a scenario where a code of AI with knowledge of an intergalactic library was received by some governmental body, who decided to launch it on a dedicated computer on a moon, booby-trapped with remotely controlled fission bombs. According to them, such an AI could still escape and cause disaster on our home planet, using social engineering or just the human factor.
After seeing what's happened to the U.S. after the Russian mis-information campaign*, I can't say that this is wrong. All it takes is one idiot** in the wrong place and the election proved that there are more than enough to elect one of their own (through electoral votes but not a majority!). So, we may forgo the knowledge of the universe because an almost majority of us are idiots. Fair enough I guess.
*as supported by 13 indictements **he denies he's an idiot since he claims that he passed an IQ test. Of course he hasn't released his score (yet) but then again he never (despite numerous promises over the years) released his tax return so don't hold your breath.
Granted it hasn't been tested on humans (not that we know of, maybe in China?) but it's only a matter of time. I'm sure there will be a market from celebrity women not willing to lose their figure over pregnancy and not wanting to go through the hassle of surrogacy.
So is it now feasible to talk about colonizing other worlds without having (living) humans going there? Send a spacecraft capable of creating it's own eggs (and having frozen sperm which I believe are easier to keep) and have the embryos develop and come to term in the artificial wombs. Decant them and have them raised by A.I. robots. If you're worried about genetic damage from long term exposure to cosmic rays made worse by high speed interstellar travel, consider creating the human genome from scratch (the Human Genome Write project started a year or two ago).
I think there were a number of science fiction stories that used this device to propagate the species over vast distances. In one, I believe the new humans eventually managed to create a self-sustaining colony but there were significant problems in organizing a society at first because of the psychological damage from having non-human parents. Anyway, in a last ditch save the species plan, it would allow for a much smaller number (zero?) of female astronauts to provide the necessary services.
I assume that with the addition of a (very) low powered green and blue laser that it would be possible to have full color images displayed. Also, I assume that, on command perhaps, the images could show up on a larger more prominent portion of the "display" (like directly ahead). Presumably the default "minimized" mode could be achieved by keeping most of the image "black" most of the time.
That with ultra-miniaturized cameras and 3D sensors built into the frame of the glasses, should enable when desired, a full-on "augmented reality" experience and would become the dominant user interface (until electronic contact lenses become practical. Then, after that, a direct neural link?)
... and it (kinda) works as advertised. It is also VERY low cost (compared to the previous generation of sequencing machines which cost 700K and up, it costs about $1K). The main disadvantages are that 1) it's still inaccurate, maybe only in the ~90% accuracy rate (not a good thing when you're reading 3B base pairs) and 2) the reagents and flow cell used are expensive (so on big jobs you're almost better off using a traditional sequencer). Still, it does do LONG reads which gets over one of the big disadvantages of the previous gen. machines.
Even with a high error rate, if the errors are UNBIASED then you can overcome them by simply sequencing the same area over and over again to come up with a consensus. This is called "coverage" and usually a factor of 10X is used but if the sequencing technology is cheap enough why not do it 30X or 100X or more?
For us citizen scientists, you'll still need a way of processing and purifying your DNA, I'm trying to get a Bento Lab (hopefully shipping in a month or two). Also the technology will hopefully get better and better, the next version will supposedly have the nanopore membrane separate from the flow cell so the whole thing won't have to be replaced when the membrane is used up. (The version after THAT supposedly will a tiny device directly attachable to an iPhone with an even tinier replaceable membrane so maybe it'll become really cheap to sequence DNA; at parties even:). Finally, I think they may be moving to freeze dried or otherwise non-perishable reagents so the storage requirements will become a little easier (I have a dedicated battery backed freezer at home).
Now with CRISPR kits for only $40, there's no end to the fun (and disasters) that we can do with our basement genetic experiments!
I should mention you'll need a little lab experience and know how to use a pipette and have steady hands! Go take some courses at the local community college and you'll be good to go. (Of course in order to interpret your results you'll need to study BioInformatics, my specialty:)
they'll be able to find us and take us out in an instant. We might as well be implanting chips to make the job easier for them:(
Did anyone else see Elon Musk's video on the immediate dangers of A.I. and how just facial recognition coupled with tiny weaponized drones could allow for a very effective policy state? Fear-mongering or is time to call up Larry Niven's A.R.M.?*
*The science fiction writer Larry Niven thought that certain technologies would become just so deadly and available to so many people that they would have to be outlawed outright. Since this was a global task, the United Nations had a special police force, A.R.M., that would be entrusted with this task. Maybe it's time for some black helicopters?
... we're staffing almost all of our BioTech staff in Vietnam. We have several championship winners of regional (ASEAN) computing competitions as well as the very top students in A.I. and computational theory (essential for crunching the gigantic datasets that the genomic revolution is bringing).
It is very difficult to get even these supremely qualified candidates work permits (unless we're willing to game the system like some Indian outsourcing companies) and even then it's literally a lottery. So their minds, the technology they create and benefits (and investment) that follows will stay overseas.
Maybe we'll go to Canada.
The fact that our president is an openly racist ignorant fraud doesn't help (in the first meeting with the Prime Minister with Vietnam, Trump went around to all present making fun for a few minutes of his name "Phuc". Imagine that, the "leader" of the free world acting like a third grade Beavus and Butt-Head. I understand that this has happened with other leaders who've had the misfortune of being introduced to Trump).
I am semi-retired and despite the fact that I now live in Vietnam, the internet (now spelled with a small "i" I think), is THE only way I could possibly live outside of one of the great centers of learning in the world. I can (kinda) keep up with my previous field (3D computer graphics), my hobbies (3D printing, scuba diving, technology) and my new field (BioTech, Genetics).
It is not perfect, it is not easy to meet people without traveling great distances (a company where I am a board member on required me to travel literally halfway around the world to Baltimore for a meeting). Still, it makes living in a developing country possible for someone like me because I have fiber to my apartment! Sure beats paying an insane amount for rent in somewhere like NYC or silicon valley and I avoid the colossal rip-off in America they call the healthcare industry (if you live more than half the year outside the country you are exempt from the rules). 17.9% of GDP on medical expenses? More than twice the cost of the next closest country? Americans really are stupid sheep, (and I am one!).
Finally, and I should admit this, it allows me to live somewhere where I am much better off than the average (financially). Many studies have shown that it isn't absolute wealth that makes you feel better, it's RELATIVE. Hence the Japanese fable:
A genie came and told a farmer that he could have anything he wanted; with the condition that his neighbors would get twice as much.
The (supposedly wise) farmer replied: "Destroy half of my crops"
I'm not proud of this but I am (a) "wise babo". (Bonus points if you know what "babo" means)
Just to clarify, by "put a big rock in the sky" I don't mean literally lift a large rock up there; until we have anti-gravity (or a space elevator) that'll be way too expensive. Instead, just find an appropriate sized NEO asteroid and, using a (very big) and slow ion engine or mass driver, bring it into a chaotic orbit between the earth and the moon. That was NASA's goal until Trump; to bring a (much much smaller) asteroid into cis-lunar space. It can then just be "nudged" carefully of course to impact in the right spot. Of course it'll have to be protected on the way down and it'll be the furthest thing from a first strike weapon but it'll have a great psychological impact to have the (asteroid) of Damocles hanging over your head.
It's fitting that because Russia bio science was crippled by Lysenko that they are so far behind in genetics. Perhaps their computer virus attacks will one day be answered with real ones.
At first thought, it would appear that this wouldn't be suited at all as a first strike weapon. Despite the immense damage it would cause, it would not directly cripple a retaliatory strike. The U.S.'s bombers and missiles are far inland and it would only sink the nuclear subs that happened to be in port nearby.
However, it COULD be used to decapitate much of the the political "leadership" (if one were to call the Trump administration that) and also much of the military leadership if it were detonated right off of Washington D.C. In fact, assuming that it could get close enough to be used (which of course is the only way it could be useful) it would be an almost instantaneous first strike weapon. Unlike a ballistic missile launched from a sub offshore on a depressed trajectory (5 min.?) or a nuke disguised as a satellite that suddenly de-orbits (20 min.?) it would be able to wipe out its target with too little time to escape. That, coupled with a "normal" first strike that would take out the land based bombers and missiles might be enough to keep the retaliation to a minimum. Or in the words of General 'Buck' Turgidson, "10-20 million (casualties) tops. Sure (they'd) get their hair mussed but (they'd) win".
Insane? Well so is the idea of an autonomous (meaning I presume there's no way to call it back) doomsday torpedo. Sounds like one could remake "The Hunt for Red October" with just a few changes; a robotic submarine capable of ending the world (or just the coast of many large nations) is accidentally launched and it must be found and destroyed before it gets within range (or becomes sentient).
Since Russia isn't nearly as vulnerable as the U.S. from coastal attacks but seems to be way behind and falling further in space technology (thanks Elon!); why not put a big rock in the sky that, with just a little nudge, would fall down the gravity well and give a non-radioactive 100MT blast? Or, if the Russians are going to go ahead and violate the nuclear arms treaty (I'm pretty sure developing a whole new strategic nuclear weapon system is not allowed), use America's lead in new biotechnologies that could target specific regions or exact populations (I'd tell you how but probably not best to talk about such things publicly).
... whatever happened or is happening with the Lockheedâ(TM)s nuclear fusion project?
For those of you who didnâ(TM)t hear, 3 years ago (2014) they claimed theyâ(TM)d be able to make a nuclear fusion power plant capable of fitting in a box car/shipping container IN FIVE YEARS. I presume they mean a power plant that generates substantially more amount of electricity than it requires (Iâ(TM)ve heard that you can âoeeasilyâ make nuclear fusion happen, getting more energy out than in is the trick).
Anyway whatever happened to this game changing (civilization changing?) technology? The only reason why I didnâ(TM)t dismiss it out of hand was because it was supposedly being developed by their âoeSkunk Worksâ, makers of the F-117, SR-71 amongst other things.
... to its final orbit (and been commissioned and been tested and is sending back science data). And then Iâ(TM)ll worry that itâ(TM)s running out of its consumables too quickly or its gyroscopes are failing at a higher than predicted rate.
These multi-billion dollar space science projects always put me on edge, especially one like this which is so far from earth that there are no easy repair scenarios such as the one that saved Hubble. Too bad that it wonâ(TM)t be unfolded and tested in LEO (so that it would have at least the possibility of being fixed). Of course then it would probably then need an ion drive in order to (very slowly) get it to L2 because the delicate unfolded mirrors couldnâ(TM)t possibly maintain their precision with a chemical rocket.
Anyway, hereâ(TM)s hoping that Elon can bring the cost of space flight down by a factor of ten or more so a repair mission to L2 wouldnâ(TM)t be prohibitively expensive. Also if getting things to orbit werenâ(TM)t so expensive maybe a much bigger telescope (possible because it would just entail more mirror modules right?) could be sent because they wouldnâ(TM)t have to worry about shaving every gram off. The reduced constraints on weight might also allow for a more robust safer and cheaper design.
So everything will be helped out a lot by cheaper access to space! (Captain Obvious)
I seem to remember reading Hitler claimed that Poland attacked some German border posts and as proof displayed the bodies of the dead German defenders. Based on that he declared war on Poland, thus starting WWII.
Of course the dead bodies were those of executed convicts and the attacks were just set up to give him an excuse to invade.
So now Putin (I presume) is claiming an attack on Russian forces. So letâ(TM)s see who the prime mover behind all the âoeFake Newsâ in the world will decide to blame. (Trump isnâ(TM)t the prime producer, heâ(TM)s the prime consumer). Will it be the Iraqis? The Kurds? The Americans? If itâ(TM)s anyone other than ISIS, Iâ(TM)d be skeptical of what he claims
Actually if they could make a version of this for cows (and "persuade" the cows not to chew it on the way down) it might be able to retrieve some important data on their methane production.
For those who don't know, methane is a much (20x) "stronger" greenhouse gas (and that's not even counting the smell). Ruminants are supposedly a large source of the gas (and I guess leaks from oil production and distribution) and so if a way to reduce their "emissions" were found that still allowed them to digest their food that could play a small but not insignificant role in reducing climate change. Perhaps genetically engineering the microbes so that they are not so methanogenic or adding some methane consuming microbes to their intestinal flora would do the trick.
Or perhaps either 1) reducing the amount of "meat" eaten (not for me) or 2) perhaps growing the meat in tissue cultures or 3) making really good substitute "meat" using genetically engineered plants that taste like meat (through the inclusion of hemoglobin like iron associated proteins that give meat its taste).
If they really completely forgot about snow and ice they have a much more serious problem.
What about the WEIGHT of the snow and ice on the cantilevered roof with just the glass to support it?
I looked at the picture and couldn't tell how far it was extended out from the central supports but if there's a lot of snow on top that then catches rain and sleet to become a heavy thick blanket of ice, I would imagine there could be some structural issues (if it even flexes a little maybe it would cause the glass to shatter).
Any structural engineers who know this kind of construction and can shed some light on this issue?
How come I've never heard of this (and I read slashdot regularly!:)
Seriously, if this isn't an April fool's joke (it isn't April 1 according to the Chinese calendar is it?) how come this TRANSPARENT concrete isn't a much more widely known building material? I mean, something with the load bearing strength of concrete with even just translucency and not good transparency would revolutionize architecture wouldn't it?
I once read (pre-internet days) that "Architecture is Man's conquest of light" or something like that in the sense that as materials got stronger, less and less of the load bearing had to be taken up by thick walls and, with the invention of cheap glass, "glass curtain wall" skyscrapers became possible. Wouldn't this be kinda on the same level of importance as that? How come we aren't seeing building with translucent structures that literally glow at night?
If this material is strong enough and durable enough (and cheap enough!) to be used as a roadway material (and maybe resistant to temperature swings that you'd expect in a temperate country like China) I would imagine there would be many many applications. So where are they?
If this IS true, and feasible and practical, well as another poster pointed out, there is a ton of available roadway that could be used to generate electricity. At least we'll go from something that is really just receiving solar energy and converting it to heat (asphalt) to something that will generate some electricity and what's far more important, cut down on the use of carbon dioxide producing fossil fuels. Win Win!
Speaking purely as a biotechnologist with no interest in creating world ending viruses (virii?).
Will the genetic sequences of these viruses be available on the genome databases hosted by the NIH, the NCBI? (National Center for Biological Information).
For those of you who don't know, the U.S. Govt. hosts basically all known genomic data for many many species on the NCBI in the form of complete DNA sequences. If you downloaded the sequences for some of these viruses, you could, with the help of a DNA synthesizer (about $10K-$40K), make some of them. Once injected into a suitable host, they would self-assemble into virulent particles capable of transmittal.
From what I understand, some of the newer DNA synthesizers "phone home" to tell the appropriate government agencies what you're up to. Also, perhaps there is some mechanism at the NCBI to prevent/monitor you when you attempt to download these sequences.
Of course, the problem with biological weapons is that they are notoriously hard to control, in fact the first victim(s) may very well be their creator. However for those with apocalyptic visions of paradise after death (70 virgins), that may not be a deterrent.
(it's me again, I wrote the "Pontoons comment above)
I should remind Slashdot readers that we already have a cometary probe planned, funded and soon to be launched I think: OSIRIS-rex. While I really like comets and would love to get samples back, we've (sort of) been there done that.
In a more perfect world where we didn't just raise our deficit 1.5Trillion dollars to give tax cuts to corporations (and their wealthy owners), we'd be doing both but until China gets their act together, we (and to a lesser extent the Europeans and Japanese) are the only ones doing any exploring of the solar system.
(While we're dreaming, a submersible probe to Titan would also be cool. By the way, ARE there any short wavelengths that would be transparent to the hydrocarbon seas of Titan? Otherwise, just sonar.)
It would allow it to land on the (very still) "waters" of the oceans and lakes of Titan!
Then, with its existing instrument suite or perhaps another or two, it could directly measure the characteristics of the liquids on the only other body in the solar system known to have liquids on its surface.
Perhaps a simple acoustic sounder could make depth measurements? A camera, able to "see" in wavelengths transparent to the liquid (methane?) could take undermethane photos? (Remember to correct for the different refraction index of methane!).
Wow, just wow. Of course that's assuming there's no "Titanic" Kraken that'll gobble it up. But that would be the same as what the project investigator said about trees on Titan: "... the cameras will, during the descent, hopefully prevent to octo-copter from crashing into a tree. But if it does crash into a tree, we win!:)" (because the camera will presumably be transmitting live pictures).
Pontoons (should be) pretty light so hopefully mass isn't a problem. If volume is a problem, make them "inflatable" (of course this adds risk and complexity though).
*I think it's an octo-copter with 8 rotors around 4 hubs.
Slashdot Mirror
So I'm to believe a no-name (I've never heard of the "Washington Examiner", how many pulitzer prizes has it won) OPINION piece? Sounds like another bit of "Fake News" that those less well-educated fall for. That's the problem with many conservatives, they mistake opinion for fact and then they don't have the ability to judge what is important. You know there is a thing called quality in journalism, good journalism will often bring speak truth to power and bring down anyone of any political persuasion (like Harvey Weinstein). How many powerful people has the "Washington Examiner" examined to the extent they've been taken down?
At least you see the massacre of Russian mercenaries as a good thing. I only wish it were a couple hundred (maybe a few dozen). Still, I don't really think Traitor Trump knew anything about it until it was too late, otherwise I'm sure he would have told his idol Putin to get out of harms way.
Don't put words in my mouth, I didn't say Russia "hacked the election" (although do a google search for previous attempts). However, as the 13 indictments show (these are Facts by the way, not fake), there is some serious evidence that they manipulated American opinion on the behalf of Russia for Traitor Trump's gain. Again they focusing on those less well educated (aka "stupid"*). It is serious, in that these people if convicted will spend some prison time and from what I have heard, special prosecutors don't bring these kind of charges lightly. By the way, why don't you google the recent study that shows how many conservatives fell for identified "Fake News" as opposed to liberals, it was I believe a ratio of like 13:1.
*you know, I have to call a spade a spade and let's face it; BY AND LARGE people who try to get a college education are smarter than those who don't or won't. So, if you want our country to be elected by (and presumably run by) idiots you're on the right track.
.."preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States" (presidential oath of office)
So by NOT ordering the NSA to go after the Russians for their very well documented (13 indictments so far) interference, one wonders what, exactly he plans to do. The sanctions Congress approved (over his objections) have, so far, largely not been implemented and, barring some secret action it seems like he is going out of his way to spare Putin.
What exactly does Putin have on him? Does that infamous "dossier" actually contain some facts? Videos? Or is it simply to subjugate the interests of the United States in order to get rich(er) from various well documented real estate deals he has around the globe. Isn't that the very definition of being a traitor, getting rich by betraying your country?
Or is he (and perhaps a lot of his supporters) so stupid to believe that the Russians didn't hack the election and aren't seeking to divide the U.S.? That it's all just a "guy sitting on their bed who weighs 400 pounds"?
Isn't that Jeff Bezo's plan?
https://slashdot.org/firehose....
If we receive some messages from E.T. we should destroy them upon receiving ... That's according to some astrophysicists who depict a scenario where a code of AI with knowledge of an intergalactic library was received by some governmental body, who decided to launch it on a dedicated computer on a moon, booby-trapped with remotely controlled fission bombs. According to them, such an AI could still escape and cause disaster on our home planet, using social engineering or just the human factor.
After seeing what's happened to the U.S. after the Russian mis-information campaign*, I can't say that this is wrong. All it takes is one idiot** in the wrong place and the election proved that there are more than enough to elect one of their own (through electoral votes but not a majority!). So, we may forgo the knowledge of the universe because an almost majority of us are idiots. Fair enough I guess.
*as supported by 13 indictements
**he denies he's an idiot since he claims that he passed an IQ test. Of course he hasn't released his score (yet) but then again he never (despite numerous promises over the years) released his tax return so don't hold your breath.
https://www.theverge.com/2017/...
Granted it hasn't been tested on humans (not that we know of, maybe in China?) but it's only a matter of time. I'm sure there will be a market from celebrity women not willing to lose their figure over pregnancy and not wanting to go through the hassle of surrogacy.
So is it now feasible to talk about colonizing other worlds without having (living) humans going there? Send a spacecraft capable of creating it's own eggs (and having frozen sperm which I believe are easier to keep) and have the embryos develop and come to term in the artificial wombs. Decant them and have them raised by A.I. robots. If you're worried about genetic damage from long term exposure to cosmic rays made worse by high speed interstellar travel, consider creating the human genome from scratch (the Human Genome Write project started a year or two ago).
I think there were a number of science fiction stories that used this device to propagate the species over vast distances. In one, I believe the new humans eventually managed to create a self-sustaining colony but there were significant problems in organizing a society at first because of the psychological damage from having non-human parents. Anyway, in a last ditch save the species plan, it would allow for a much smaller number (zero?) of female astronauts to provide the necessary services.
color
I assume that with the addition of a (very) low powered green and blue laser that it would be possible to have full color images displayed. Also, I assume that, on command perhaps, the images could show up on a larger more prominent portion of the "display" (like directly ahead). Presumably the default "minimized" mode could be achieved by keeping most of the image "black" most of the time.
That with ultra-miniaturized cameras and 3D sensors built into the frame of the glasses, should enable when desired, a full-on "augmented reality" experience and would become the dominant user interface (until electronic contact lenses become practical. Then, after that, a direct neural link?)
... and it (kinda) works as advertised. It is also VERY low cost (compared to the previous generation of sequencing machines which cost 700K and up, it costs about $1K). The main disadvantages are that 1) it's still inaccurate, maybe only in the ~90% accuracy rate (not a good thing when you're reading 3B base pairs) and 2) the reagents and flow cell used are expensive (so on big jobs you're almost better off using a traditional sequencer). Still, it does do LONG reads which gets over one of the big disadvantages of the previous gen. machines.
Even with a high error rate, if the errors are UNBIASED then you can overcome them by simply sequencing the same area over and over again to come up with a consensus. This is called "coverage" and usually a factor of 10X is used but if the sequencing technology is cheap enough why not do it 30X or 100X or more?
For us citizen scientists, you'll still need a way of processing and purifying your DNA, I'm trying to get a Bento Lab (hopefully shipping in a month or two). Also the technology will hopefully get better and better, the next version will supposedly have the nanopore membrane separate from the flow cell so the whole thing won't have to be replaced when the membrane is used up. (The version after THAT supposedly will a tiny device directly attachable to an iPhone with an even tinier replaceable membrane so maybe it'll become really cheap to sequence DNA; at parties even :). Finally, I think they may be moving to freeze dried or otherwise non-perishable reagents so the storage requirements will become a little easier (I have a dedicated battery backed freezer at home).
Now with CRISPR kits for only $40, there's no end to the fun (and disasters) that we can do with our basement genetic experiments!
I should mention you'll need a little lab experience and know how to use a pipette and have steady hands! Go take some courses at the local community college and you'll be good to go. (Of course in order to interpret your results you'll need to study BioInformatics, my specialty :)
they'll be able to find us and take us out in an instant. We might as well be implanting chips to make the job easier for them :(
Did anyone else see Elon Musk's video on the immediate dangers of A.I. and how just facial recognition coupled with tiny weaponized drones could allow for a very effective policy state? Fear-mongering or is time to call up Larry Niven's A.R.M.?*
*The science fiction writer Larry Niven thought that certain technologies would become just so deadly and available to so many people that they would have to be outlawed outright. Since this was a global task, the United Nations had a special police force, A.R.M., that would be entrusted with this task. Maybe it's time for some black helicopters?
... we're staffing almost all of our BioTech staff in Vietnam. We have several championship winners of regional (ASEAN) computing competitions as well as the very top students in A.I. and computational theory (essential for crunching the gigantic datasets that the genomic revolution is bringing).
It is very difficult to get even these supremely qualified candidates work permits (unless we're willing to game the system like some Indian outsourcing companies) and even then it's literally a lottery. So their minds, the technology they create and benefits (and investment) that follows will stay overseas.
Maybe we'll go to Canada.
The fact that our president is an openly racist ignorant fraud doesn't help (in the first meeting with the Prime Minister with Vietnam, Trump went around to all present making fun for a few minutes of his name "Phuc". Imagine that, the "leader" of the free world acting like a third grade Beavus and Butt-Head. I understand that this has happened with other leaders who've had the misfortune of being introduced to Trump).
I am semi-retired and despite the fact that I now live in Vietnam, the internet (now spelled with a small "i" I think), is THE only way I could possibly live outside of one of the great centers of learning in the world. I can (kinda) keep up with my previous field (3D computer graphics), my hobbies (3D printing, scuba diving, technology) and my new field (BioTech, Genetics).
It is not perfect, it is not easy to meet people without traveling great distances (a company where I am a board member on required me to travel literally halfway around the world to Baltimore for a meeting). Still, it makes living in a developing country possible for someone like me because I have fiber to my apartment! Sure beats paying an insane amount for rent in somewhere like NYC or silicon valley and I avoid the colossal rip-off in America they call the healthcare industry (if you live more than half the year outside the country you are exempt from the rules). 17.9% of GDP on medical expenses? More than twice the cost of the next closest country? Americans really are stupid sheep, (and I am one!).
Finally, and I should admit this, it allows me to live somewhere where I am much better off than the average (financially). Many studies have shown that it isn't absolute wealth that makes you feel better, it's RELATIVE. Hence the Japanese fable:
A genie came and told a farmer that he could have anything he wanted; with the condition that his neighbors would get twice as much.
The (supposedly wise) farmer replied: "Destroy half of my crops"
I'm not proud of this but I am (a) "wise babo". (Bonus points if you know what "babo" means)
Just to clarify, by "put a big rock in the sky" I don't mean literally lift a large rock up there; until we have anti-gravity (or a space elevator) that'll be way too expensive. Instead, just find an appropriate sized NEO asteroid and, using a (very big) and slow ion engine or mass driver, bring it into a chaotic orbit between the earth and the moon. That was NASA's goal until Trump; to bring a (much much smaller) asteroid into cis-lunar space. It can then just be "nudged" carefully of course to impact in the right spot. Of course it'll have to be protected on the way down and it'll be the furthest thing from a first strike weapon but it'll have a great psychological impact to have the (asteroid) of Damocles hanging over your head.
It's fitting that because Russia bio science was crippled by Lysenko that they are so far behind in genetics. Perhaps their computer virus attacks will one day be answered with real ones.
At first thought, it would appear that this wouldn't be suited at all as a first strike weapon. Despite the immense damage it would cause, it would not directly cripple a retaliatory strike. The U.S.'s bombers and missiles are far inland and it would only sink the nuclear subs that happened to be in port nearby.
However, it COULD be used to decapitate much of the the political "leadership" (if one were to call the Trump administration that) and also much of the military leadership if it were detonated right off of Washington D.C. In fact, assuming that it could get close enough to be used (which of course is the only way it could be useful) it would be an almost instantaneous first strike weapon. Unlike a ballistic missile launched from a sub offshore on a depressed trajectory (5 min.?) or a nuke disguised as a satellite that suddenly de-orbits (20 min.?) it would be able to wipe out its target with too little time to escape. That, coupled with a "normal" first strike that would take out the land based bombers and missiles might be enough to keep the retaliation to a minimum. Or in the words of General 'Buck' Turgidson, "10-20 million (casualties) tops. Sure (they'd) get their hair mussed but (they'd) win".
Insane? Well so is the idea of an autonomous (meaning I presume there's no way to call it back) doomsday torpedo. Sounds like one could remake "The Hunt for Red October" with just a few changes; a robotic submarine capable of ending the world (or just the coast of many large nations) is accidentally launched and it must be found and destroyed before it gets within range (or becomes sentient).
Since Russia isn't nearly as vulnerable as the U.S. from coastal attacks but seems to be way behind and falling further in space technology (thanks Elon!); why not put a big rock in the sky that, with just a little nudge, would fall down the gravity well and give a non-radioactive 100MT blast? Or, if the Russians are going to go ahead and violate the nuclear arms treaty (I'm pretty sure developing a whole new strategic nuclear weapon system is not allowed), use America's lead in new biotechnologies that could target specific regions or exact populations (I'd tell you how but probably not best to talk about such things publicly).
Yes I did, Iâ(TM)m sorry about the illegibility, I donâ(TM)t know how to fix it (other than not use some punctuation marks)
... whatever happened or is happening with the Lockheedâ(TM)s nuclear fusion project?
For those of you who didnâ(TM)t hear, 3 years ago (2014) they claimed theyâ(TM)d be able to make a nuclear fusion power plant capable of fitting in a box car/shipping container IN FIVE YEARS. I presume they mean a power plant that generates substantially more amount of electricity than it requires (Iâ(TM)ve heard that you can âoeeasilyâ make nuclear fusion happen, getting more energy out than in is the trick).
https://lppfusion.com/lockheed...
Anyway whatever happened to this game changing (civilization changing?) technology? The only reason why I didnâ(TM)t dismiss it out of hand was because it was supposedly being developed by their âoeSkunk Worksâ, makers of the F-117, SR-71 amongst other things.
So where is it?
... to its final orbit (and been commissioned and been tested and is sending back science data). And then Iâ(TM)ll worry that itâ(TM)s running out of its consumables too quickly or its gyroscopes are failing at a higher than predicted rate.
These multi-billion dollar space science projects always put me on edge, especially one like this which is so far from earth that there are no easy repair scenarios such as the one that saved Hubble. Too bad that it wonâ(TM)t be unfolded and tested in LEO (so that it would have at least the possibility of being fixed). Of course then it would probably then need an ion drive in order to (very slowly) get it to L2 because the delicate unfolded mirrors couldnâ(TM)t possibly maintain their precision with a chemical rocket.
Anyway, hereâ(TM)s hoping that Elon can bring the cost of space flight down by a factor of ten or more so a repair mission to L2 wouldnâ(TM)t be prohibitively expensive. Also if getting things to orbit werenâ(TM)t so expensive maybe a much bigger telescope (possible because it would just entail more mirror modules right?) could be sent because they wouldnâ(TM)t have to worry about shaving every gram off. The reduced constraints on weight might also allow for a more robust safer and cheaper design.
So everything will be helped out a lot by cheaper access to space! (Captain Obvious)
I seem to remember reading Hitler claimed that Poland attacked some German border posts and as proof displayed the bodies of the dead German defenders. Based on that he declared war on Poland, thus starting WWII.
Of course the dead bodies were those of executed convicts and the attacks were just set up to give him an excuse to invade.
So now Putin (I presume) is claiming an attack on Russian forces. So letâ(TM)s see who the prime mover behind all the âoeFake Newsâ in the world will decide to blame. (Trump isnâ(TM)t the prime producer, heâ(TM)s the prime consumer). Will it be the Iraqis? The Kurds? The Americans? If itâ(TM)s anyone other than ISIS, Iâ(TM)d be skeptical of what he claims
Actually if they could make a version of this for cows (and "persuade" the cows not to chew it on the way down) it might be able to retrieve some important data on their methane production.
For those who don't know, methane is a much (20x) "stronger" greenhouse gas (and that's not even counting the smell). Ruminants are supposedly a large source of the gas (and I guess leaks from oil production and distribution) and so if a way to reduce their "emissions" were found that still allowed them to digest their food that could play a small but not insignificant role in reducing climate change. Perhaps genetically engineering the microbes so that they are not so methanogenic or adding some methane consuming microbes to their intestinal flora would do the trick.
Or perhaps either 1) reducing the amount of "meat" eaten (not for me) or 2) perhaps growing the meat in tissue cultures or 3) making really good substitute "meat" using genetically engineered plants that taste like meat (through the inclusion of hemoglobin like iron associated proteins that give meat its taste).
If they really completely forgot about snow and ice they have a much more serious problem.
What about the WEIGHT of the snow and ice on the cantilevered roof with just the glass to support it?
I looked at the picture and couldn't tell how far it was extended out from the central supports but if there's a lot of snow on top that then catches rain and sleet to become a heavy thick blanket of ice, I would imagine there could be some structural issues (if it even flexes a little maybe it would cause the glass to shatter).
Any structural engineers who know this kind of construction and can shed some light on this issue?
Because theyâ(TM)ll have 100 million excess young males due to gender specific abortions.
How come I've never heard of this (and I read slashdot regularly! :)
Seriously, if this isn't an April fool's joke (it isn't April 1 according to the Chinese calendar is it?) how come this TRANSPARENT concrete isn't a much more widely known building material? I mean, something with the load bearing strength of concrete with even just translucency and not good transparency would revolutionize architecture wouldn't it?
I once read (pre-internet days) that "Architecture is Man's conquest of light" or something like that in the sense that as materials got stronger, less and less of the load bearing had to be taken up by thick walls and, with the invention of cheap glass, "glass curtain wall" skyscrapers became possible. Wouldn't this be kinda on the same level of importance as that? How come we aren't seeing building with translucent structures that literally glow at night?
If this material is strong enough and durable enough (and cheap enough!) to be used as a roadway material (and maybe resistant to temperature swings that you'd expect in a temperate country like China) I would imagine there would be many many applications. So where are they?
If this IS true, and feasible and practical, well as another poster pointed out, there is a ton of available roadway that could be used to generate electricity. At least we'll go from something that is really just receiving solar energy and converting it to heat (asphalt) to something that will generate some electricity and what's far more important, cut down on the use of carbon dioxide producing fossil fuels. Win Win!
Oops! Didn't look into OSIRIS-REx closely enough. Anyway, aren't asteroids just naked comets? :)
Speaking purely as a biotechnologist with no interest in creating world ending viruses (virii?).
Will the genetic sequences of these viruses be available on the genome databases hosted by the NIH, the NCBI? (National Center for Biological Information).
For those of you who don't know, the U.S. Govt. hosts basically all known genomic data for many many species on the NCBI in the form of complete DNA sequences. If you downloaded the sequences for some of these viruses, you could, with the help of a DNA synthesizer (about $10K-$40K), make some of them. Once injected into a suitable host, they would self-assemble into virulent particles capable of transmittal.
From what I understand, some of the newer DNA synthesizers "phone home" to tell the appropriate government agencies what you're up to. Also, perhaps there is some mechanism at the NCBI to prevent/monitor you when you attempt to download these sequences.
Of course, the problem with biological weapons is that they are notoriously hard to control, in fact the first victim(s) may very well be their creator. However for those with apocalyptic visions of paradise after death (70 virgins), that may not be a deterrent.
(it's me again, I wrote the "Pontoons comment above)
I should remind Slashdot readers that we already have a cometary probe planned, funded and soon to be launched I think: OSIRIS-rex. While I really like comets and would love to get samples back, we've (sort of) been there done that.
In a more perfect world where we didn't just raise our deficit 1.5Trillion dollars to give tax cuts to corporations (and their wealthy owners), we'd be doing both but until China gets their act together, we (and to a lesser extent the Europeans and Japanese) are the only ones doing any exploring of the solar system.
(While we're dreaming, a submersible probe to Titan would also be cool. By the way, ARE there any short wavelengths that would be transparent to the hydrocarbon seas of Titan? Otherwise, just sonar.)
It would allow it to land on the (very still) "waters" of the oceans and lakes of Titan!
Then, with its existing instrument suite or perhaps another or two, it could directly measure the characteristics of the liquids on the only other body in the solar system known to have liquids on its surface.
Perhaps a simple acoustic sounder could make depth measurements? A camera, able to "see" in wavelengths transparent to the liquid (methane?) could take undermethane photos? (Remember to correct for the different refraction index of methane!).
Wow, just wow. Of course that's assuming there's no "Titanic" Kraken that'll gobble it up. But that would be the same as what the project investigator said about trees on Titan: "... the cameras will, during the descent, hopefully prevent to octo-copter from crashing into a tree. But if it does crash into a tree, we win! :)" (because the camera will presumably be transmitting live pictures).
Pontoons (should be) pretty light so hopefully mass isn't a problem. If volume is a problem, make them "inflatable" (of course this adds risk and complexity though).
*I think it's an octo-copter with 8 rotors around 4 hubs.
... doesn't live in a full democracy? Or is it because 85% of humanity doesn't live in a full democracy that these systems are being sold?
http://www.atlantic-community....