Monday, July 6, 2009
NSA To Build 20-Acre Data Center In Utah
Posted by samzenpus on Thursday July 02, @07:57AM
from the data-on-the-horizon dept.
from the data-on-the-horizon dept.
Hugh Pickens writes"The Salt Lake City Tribune reports that the National Security Agency will be building a one million square foot data center at Utah's Camp Williams. The NSA's heavily automated computerized operations have for years been based at Fort Meade, Maryland, but the agency began looking to decentralize its efforts following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and accelerated their search after the Baltimore Sun reported that the NSA — Baltimore Gas & Electric's biggest customer — had maxed out the local grid and could not bring online several supercomputers it needed to expand its operations. The agency got a taste of the potential for trouble January 24, 2000, when an information overload, rather than a power shortage, caused the NSA's first-ever network crash, taking the agency 3 1/2 days to resume operations. The new data center in Utah will require at least 65 megawatts of power — about the same amount used by every home in Salt Lake City so a separate power substation will have to be built at Camp Williams to sustain that demand. 'They were looking at secure sites, where there could be a natural nexus between organizations and where space was available,' says Col. Scott Olson, the Utah National Guard's legislative liaison. NSA officials, who have a long-standing relationship with Utah based on the state Guard's unique linguist units, approached state officials about finding land in the state on which to build an additional data center. 'The stars just kind of came into alignment. We could provide them everything they need.'"
Record-Breaking Solar Cells Tailored To Location
Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday July 01, @07:56PM
from the new-and-improved dept.
from the new-and-improved dept.
Urchin writes"The quality of sunlight varies depending on where you live, but off-the-shelf solar cells are all identical. A new solar cell designed by UK firm Quantasol is easily tuned to adapt to the local light conditions, which boosts its long-term performance. Its short-term performance isn't bad though — the single junction solar cell has a peak efficiency greater than any previous device, beating a world record that's stood for 21 years."
Wind powered knitting machine takes the tedium out of your heirloom production
by Laura June, posted Jul 2nd 2009 at 10:33AM
Read - Merel Karhof's blog
Read - Show RCA Wind Knitting Factory
Caffeine Reverses Memory Impairment In Mice With Alzheimer's Symptoms
ScienceDaily (July 6, 2009) — Coffee drinkers may have another reason to pour that extra cup. When aged mice bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer's disease were given caffeine – the equivalent of five cups of coffee a day – their memory impairment was reversed, report University of South Florida researchers at the Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
What the US Can Learn From Europe's Pollution Credit System
Al writes"Technology Review discusses what a US carbon trading scheme could learn from the flawed European experience. Advocates of carbon-trading schemes like to point to Europe's cap-and-trade program as a model worthy of emulation, but the reality has been less than perfect. A glut of pollution credits, distributed without cost during both the first, transitional phase of the program and the current working phase, drove down the value of the EUAs. As a result, Europe's carbon dioxide emissions remain priced well below 20 euros per ton. With the price of pollution so low, economists say, industries that generate and consume energy have no incentives to change their habits; it is still cheaper to use fossil fuels than to switch to technologies that pollute less. Establishing a carbon price in the US system now, and tightening the system later, could send a dangerously wrong signal to financial markets looking to invest in new energy technologies."
Subliminal Messages Motivate People To Actually Do Things They Already Wanted To Do
ScienceDaily (July 1, 2009) — How is it possible that you were not planning on going shopping, but that you still end up going and even return home with four new pairs of trousers? Apparently you really did want to go shopping but were not consciously aware of it. Dutch researcher Martijn Veltkamp has demonstrated that you can motivate people with subliminal messaging: quickly flashing words onto a screen without their noticing. This is only successful, however, if the subliminal message matches a biological need and if the behaviour is associated with a positive effect.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Doctors Baffled, Intrigued By Girl Who Doesn't Age
Posted by kdawson on Friday June 26, @10:29AM
from the fountain-of-youth-or-maybe-it's-a-cataract dept.
from the fountain-of-youth-or-maybe-it's-a-cataract dept.
phyrebyrd writes"Brooke Greenberg is the size of an infant, with the mental capacity of a toddler. She turned 16 in January. Brooke hasn't aged in the conventional sense. Dr. Richard Walker of the University of South Florida College of Medicine, in Tampa, says Brooke's body is not developing as a coordinated unit, but as independent parts that are out of sync. She has never been diagnosed with any known genetic syndrome or chromosomal abnormality that would help explain why. Brooke's hair and her nails are the only two things that grow, Howard said. 'She has pajamas and outfits that are 10 or 12 years old,' he said."
Explosives Prevent Technology Theft
ScienceDaily (June 26, 2009) — Product piracy causes billions worth of damage worldwide. A combination of visible and invisible copy protection is really effective against this. Explosive embossing is an economical procedure and can be used for mass-produced goods.
Iran Tries To Pacify Protesters With Lord of The Rings Marathon
Iranian state television's Channel Two is playing a Lord of the Rings marathon in an attempt to keep people inside watching hobbits and not protesting in the streets. Normally, people in Tehran are treated to one or two Hollywood movies a week, but with recent events the government hopes that sitting through a nine-hour trilogy will take the fight out of most of the protesters. Perhaps this was not the best choice in films if you want your people not to believe that "even the smallest person can change the course of the future."
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Cows That Burp Less Methane to Be Bred
Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday June 24, @01:23PM
from the belching-bovines dept.
from the belching-bovines dept.
Canadian scientists are breeding a type of cow that burps less, in an attempt to reduce greenhouse gases. Cows are responsible for almost 75% of total methane emissions, mostly coming from burps. Stephen Moore, professor of agricultural, food and nutritional science at the University of Alberta, hopes the refined bovines will produce 25 per cent less methane. Nancy Hirshberg, spokesman for Stonyfield Farm says, "If every US dairy farmer reduced emissions by 12 per cent it would be equal to about half a million cars being taken off the road."
China Starts/Stops Blocking Google
shekared was one of a number of readers to write in to tell a similar story. He says"I'm an American currently living and working in Chongqing, China. As of 9am (UTC +8) China began blocking google.com, gmail.com, google analytics and many if not most other google sites other than google.cn. Internet speed for connections outside the mainland, have in general have come to a crawl. Surprisingly this has yet to pick up major coverage in the press. Using an open proxy or VPN for connection to hosts outside of the mainland continues to allow access to google, as does connecting directly to a google.com IP address. As of 6pm (UTC +8) access to gmail and google.com have returned to normal."
Windows 7 official pricing announced, limited pre-orders start tomorrow
by Nilay Patel, posted Jun 25th 2009 at 9:01AM
Microsoft just laid out the Windows 7 pricing grid for us, and here's the big takeaway: Vista and XP users will need to pony up $119.99, $199.99, or $219.99 on October 22 to score their Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate upgrade, and those of you who want a full retail disc will need to roll up with $199.99, $299.99, or $319.99 respectively. It's not quite that simple, though: starting tomorrow, June 26, you'll be able to pre-order upgrades at much cheaper prices -- $49.99 for Home Premium and $99.99 for Professional, just as we'd heard -- but pre-orders will be strictly limited in number and are expected to sell out quickly. Obviously we'd prefer it if final pricing was $49 and $99 for everyone, but it's not a bad start, especially since participating manufacturers will be offering cheap / free upgrades to 7 on new computers sold after tomorrow with Vista as well.Oh, and don't you worry about scoring a place in line, because we're here to help: later today we'll be giving away 100 codes that guarantee a pre-order spot at the discounted prices, and you'll be able to share the code with two friends. You'll have to act fast, though -- the codes will only be valid for 48 hours. Keep your eyes peeled for our recession antidote post around noon EST, and get your clicky-fingers ready.
Update: Looks lke we've got our first participating manufacturer -- HP machines sold after tomorrow will receive free upgrades to 7, and we're hearing Sony will announce a similar offer soon. We'll be keeping a full list of announcements as the day goes on, check back later for more.
'Milking' Microscopic Algae Could Yield Massive Amounts Of Oil
ScienceDaily (June 23, 2009) — Scientists in Canada and India are proposing a surprising new solution to the global energy crisis —"milking" oil from the tiny, single-cell algae known as diatoms, renowned for their intricate, beautifully sculpted shells that resemble fine lacework.
Brain Represents Tools As Temporary Body Parts, Study Confirms
ScienceDaily (June 24, 2009) — Researchers have what they say is the first direct proof of a very old idea: that when we use a tool—even for just a few minutes—it changes the way our brain represents the size of our body. In other words, the tool becomes a part of what is known in psychology as our body schema, according to a report published in the June 23rd issue of Current Biology.
Feather Fibers Fluff Up Hydrogen Storage Capacity
ScienceDaily (June 24, 2009) — Scientists in Delaware say they have developed a new hydrogen storage method — carbonized chicken feather fibers — that can hold vast amounts of hydrogen, a promising but difficult to corral fuel source, and do it at a far lower cost than other hydrogen storage systems under consideration.
U.S. Seniors 'Smarter' Than English Seniors
ScienceDaily (June 25, 2009) — Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School, the University of Cambridge and the University of Michigan have carried out the first international comparison of cognitive function in nationally representative samples of older adults in the US and England and discovered that US seniors performed significantly better that their English counterparts.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Tracking Thieves with 'Find my iPhone'
An anonymous reader wrote in to say"A friend of mine who just got an Iphone 3GS and has Mobile Me just used the "Find my Iphone" feature to track down his lost and subsequently stolen iphone. This story involves 3 nerds wandering sketchy streets with a Macbook, and ends with a confrontation at a bus stop."
You might be in the Taliban if...
1. You refine heroin for a living, but you have a moral objection to beer.
2. You own a $3,000 machine gun and $5,000 rocket launcher, but you can't afford shoes.
3. You have more wives than teeth.
4. You wipe your butt with your bare hand, but consider bacon "unclean."
5. You think vests come in two styles: bullet-proof and suicide.
6. You can't think of anyone you haven’t declared Jihad against.
7. You consider television dangerous, but routinely carry explosives in your clothing.
8. You were amazed to discover that cell phones have uses other than setting off roadside bombs.
9. You have nothing against women and think every man should own at least one.
10. You've always had a crush on your neighbor's goat
Blu-ray Adoption Soft, More Still Own HD DVD
MojoKid writes"A new study by Harris Interactive notes that currently, one in ten Americans (10%) own an HD DVD player, while just 7% own a Blu-ray player. Crazy, right? More Americans own HD DVD right now than the "winning" format, Blu-ray. If you think about it, that statistic isn't that shocking. When HD DVD was around, it was far and away the "budget" format for high-def. The players were cheaper, the films were cheaper. In other words, it was a format more ready to thrive in a down economy. Blu-ray was always viewed as a niche format for those absorbed in A/V, not the common man's format. The survey also found that on average, consumers purchased approximately 6 Standard Format DVD's in the last six months compared with 1 in HD format."
Mayo Clinic Reports Dramatic Outcomes In Prostate Cancer Treatment
Posted by Soulskill on Sunday June 21, @11:24AM
from the turns-out-the-tumor-was-his-sled dept.
from the turns-out-the-tumor-was-his-sled dept.
Zorglub writes"Two prostate cancer patients who had been told their condition was inoperable are now cancer-free as the result of an experimental therapy, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester announced Friday. 'Cancer has a propensity for turning off T cells. Dr. Allison hypothesized that if you block the off-switch, T cells will stay turned on and create a prolonged immune response. Dr. Kwon, then at NIH, demonstrated that CTLA-4 blockage could be used to treat aggressive forms of prostate cancer in mice. There was one limitation to that concept — the worry that by simply leaving all the T cells on there may not be enough response aimed at the tumor. Dr. Kwon called Dr. Allison and designed the trial together. The idea: use androgen ablation or hormone therapy to ignite an immune approach — a pilot light — and then, after a short interval of hormone therapy, introduce an anti-CTLA-4 antibody that acts like gasoline to this pilot light and overwhelms the cancer cells.' After the treatment, the patients' tumors shrunk to such a degree that they could be successfully removed."
Life-sized Gundam complete and no, you can't borrow it
by Joseph L. Flatley, posted Jun 12th 2009 at 6:23PM
In the Universal Century, we suppose this sort of thing will be rather blasé. But until then, there's really no better way to get our geek hearts a-flutter than some up close and personal pics of this 1:1 scale model of the classic RX-78-2 Gundam mecha, built to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the franchise. We've been watching the construction of this thing rather closely and we're proud to announce that the finished product is every bit as badass as we'd hoped. If you're not planning on making the trip to Tokyo any time soon, feel free to take a gander at the thing in the gallery below. And our thanks to blogger Punynari for the awesome pics!
Gallery: Life-sized Gundam
Green Tea May Slow Prostate Cancer Progression
ScienceDaily (June 22, 2009) — According to results of a study published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, men with prostate cancer who consumed the active compounds in green tea demonstrated a significant reduction in serum markers predictive of prostate cancer progression.
PET Scans May Improve Accuracy Of Dementia Diagnosis
ScienceDaily (June 22, 2009) — A new study shows that the use of positron emission tomography (PET) scans may improve the accuracy of dementia diagnoses early in disease onset for more than one out of four patients. The results were presented at SNM's 56th Annual Meeting.
Indian CEO Says Most US Tech Grads "Unemployable"
Posted by kdawson on Monday June 22, @02:01AM
from the you-stereotype-i-draw-distinctions dept.
from the you-stereotype-i-draw-distinctions dept.
theodp writes"When questioned about his firm's US hiring, Information Week reports that Vineet Nayar, the CEO of the Indian outsourcing giant HCL Technologies, showed he can stereotype with the best of them, telling an audience in NYC that most American tech grads are 'unemployable'. Explaining that Americans are far less willing than students from developing economies like India, China, and Brazil to master the 'boring' details of tech process and methodology, the HCL chief added that most Americans are just too expensive to train. HCL, which was reportedlyawarded a secretive $170 million outsourcing contract by Microsoft last April, gets a personal thumbs-up from Steve Ballmer for 'walking the extra mile.' Ballmer was busy last week pitching more H-1B visas as the cure for America's job ills at The National Summit."
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