Inside London’s Secret Crisis-Command Bunker

By Pete Brook  

January 31, 2011  |  

7:00 am  |  

Categories: Fine Art, Law, Photo Gallery, Politics, War

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Back-door area.

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If nuclear attack or civil breakdown ever threatens the United Kingdom, the heads of government and the military know where to go. Beneath the streets of London, deeper than the capitol’s famous tube system, exists a hidden bunker on constant standby.

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Ski Lifts Can Could Help Get Cargo Traffic Off the Road

Posted by timothy on Monday January 31, @02:11AM 

from the you-either-like-this-or-have-no-soul dept.

An anonymous reader writes with this except from a beautifully illustrated, thought-provoking article:"These days, we use them almost exclusively to transport skiers and snowboarders up snow slopes, but before the 1940s, aerial ropeways were a common means of cargo transport, not only in mountainous regions but also on flat terrain. An electrically powered aerial ropeway is one of the cheapest and most efficient means of transportation available. Some generate excess energy that can be used to power nearby factories or data centers. An innovative system called RopeCon (not to be confused with a role-playing convention held annually in Finland) can move up to 10,000 tonnes of freight per hour."

Molybdenite As an Alternative To Silicon

Posted by timothy on Sunday January 30, @11:09PM 

from the mind-the-gap-sir dept.

An anonymous reader writes"Molybdenite (MoS2) can be used to make transistors that consume 100,000 times less energy in standby state. This mineral, which is abundant in nature, is often used as an element in steel alloys or as an additive in lubricants. Research carried out in Switzerland at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne's Laboratory of Nanoscale Electronics and Structures (LANES) has revealed that is a very effective semiconductor. Molybdenite's 1.8 electron-volt gap is ideal for transistors and gives it an advantage over graphene (which does not have a gap)."

EFF Uncovers Widespread FBI Intelligence Violations

Posted by timothy on Sunday January 30, @08:18PM 

from the man-v-state-the-case-that-never-ends dept.

An anonymous reader writes"EFF has uncovered widespread violations stemming from FBI intelligence investigations from 2001 — 2008. In a report released today, EFF documents alarming trends in the Bureau's intelligence investigation practices, suggesting that FBI intelligence investigations have compromised the civil liberties of American citizens far more frequently, and to a greater extent, than was previously assumed. Using documents obtained through EFF's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation, the report finds: Evidence of delays of 2.5 years, on average, between the occurrence of a violation and its eventual reporting to the Intelligence Oversight Board; reports of serious misconduct by FBI agents including lying in declarations to courts, using improper evidence to obtain grand jury subpoenas, and accessing password-protected files without a warrant; and indications that the FBI may have committed upwards of 40,000 possible intelligence violations in the 9 years since 9/11."

Cheap, Clean Ways to Produce Hydrogen for Use in Fuel Cells? A Dash of Disorder Yields a Very Efficient Photocatalyst

 (Jan. 30, 2011) — A little disorder goes a long way, especially when it comes to harnessing the sun's energy. Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) jumbled the atomic structure of the surface layer of titanium dioxide nanocrystals, creating a catalyst that is both long lasting and more efficient than all other materials in using the sun's energy to extract hydrogen from water.

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Homebuilt UAV hunts down hydrogen balloons, shoots firework missiles (video)

By Sean Hollister  posted Jan 30th 2011 2:29PM

Augmented reality is swell, don't get us wrong, but it's no substitute for the real thing -- especially when that thing is a badass tricopter equipped with a jury-rigged firework cannon to rain down miniature hell. Swedish R/C enthusiasts built this first-person flying contraption to carry out a single mission -- destroy a series of hydrogen-filled balloons -- which will hopefully be hard-coded into future automatons too. After all, balloons could serve as an excellent distraction when they inevitably come for you. Still, there's no need to worry quite yet, so kick back and enjoy the video above while you contemplate humanity's end.

Workers Most Invested in Their Jobs Have Highest Stress Levels

ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2011) — A workplace's key employees may be at the greatest risk of experiencing high levels of work stress, according to a new study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

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Mathematical Model Explains How Complex Societies Emerge, Collapse

ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2011) — The instability of large, complex societies is a predictable phenomenon, according to a new mathematical model that explores the emergence of early human societies via warfare. Capturing hundreds of years of human history, the model reveals the dynamical nature of societies, which can be difficult to uncover in archaeological data.

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Practical Full-Spectrum Solar Cell Comes Closer

ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2011) — Solar cells are made from semiconductors whose ability to respond to light is determined by their band gaps (energy gaps). Different colors have different energies, and no single semiconductor has a band gap that can respond to sunlight's full range, from low-energy infrared through visible light to high-energy ultraviolet.

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Hot Flushes Are Linked With a Significant Reduction in Breast Cancer Risk, Study Finds

ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2011) — Women who have experienced hot flushes and other symptoms of menopause may have a 50 percent lower risk of developing the most common forms of breast cancer than postmenopausal women who have never had such symptoms, according to a recent study by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

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Chopin's Hallucinations Were Probably Caused by Epilepsy, Study Suggests

ScienceDaily (Jan. 24, 2011) — The composer Frédéric Chopin, who regularly hallucinated, probably had temporal lobe epilepsy throughout his short life, reveals research published online in Medical Humanities. Hallucinations typically feature in seizure disorders, the study's authors say.

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Two-Thirds of US Internet Users Lack Fast Broadband

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday January 25, @05:09AM
from the it's-comcastic dept.

internet

networking

usa

technology

jbrodkin writes"Two-thirds of US Internet connections are slower than 5 Mbps, putting the United States well behind speed leaders like South Korea, where penetration of so-called 'high broadband connectivity' is double the rate experienced in the United States. The United States places ninth in the world in access to high broadband connectivity, at 34% of users, including 27% of connections reaching 5 Mbps to 10 Mbps and 7% reaching above 10 Mbps, Akamai says in its latest State of the Internet Report. That's an improvement since a year ago, when the United States was in 12th place with only 24% of users accessing fast connections. But the United States is still dwarfed by South Korea, where 72% of Internet connections are greater than 5 Mbps, and Japan, which is at 60%. The numbers illustrate the gap between expectation and reality for US broadband users, which has fueled the creation of a government initiative to improve access. The US government broadband initiative says 100 million Americans lack any broadband access, and that faster Internet access is needed in the medical industry, schools, energy grid and public safety networks."

Obama Nominates RIAA Lawyer for Solicitor General

By David Kravets  

January 24, 2011  |  

6:32 pm  |  

Categories: RIAA Litigation, The Courts

President Barack Obama nominated former Recording Industry Association of America lawyer Donald Verrilli Jr. on Monday to serve as the nation’s solicitor general.

If confirmed by the Senate, Verilli, now the White House deputy counsel, would assume the powerful position left vacant by Elena Kagan, who was elevated to the Supreme Court. Obama said he was “confident” Verrilli, one offive former RIAA attorneys appointed to the administration, would “serve ably.”

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TankChair deemed too heavy to use on UK streets, disabled man becomes marketing boon (video)

By Sean Hollister  posted Jan 24th 2011 12:37AM

While we figure that giant, tread-wielding wheelchairs have no trouble selling themselves, a disabled man named Jim Starr is helping them along their merry way -- a story about his TankChair being rejected for street use by UK authorities is giving the company plenty of free advertising. That's not to say that we don't feel for the disabled father of two, and hope he gets to use his snow-crushing, beach-mashing wheelchair in peace -- it's just not particularly surprising that a non-standard vehicle would be illegal to use on public roadways, and as you'll see in the video after the break (at roughly 5:30) the law doesn't seem to be restraining him any.

Holocube scales up with life-sized, 70-inch, HC70 holographic projector (video)

By Tim Stevens  posted Jan 24th 2011 7:48AM

First they were little, then they added touchability, now Holocube's holograms in a box are going big time -- in that the company's latest model is physically much larger than the others. It's the HC70, a new version with a 70-inch transparent screen that can be viewed from both sides. It's powered by a Windows 7 Embedded machine with 40GB of flash storage from which it can loop between eight and 18 hours of video, displayed via 1080p projector. You can see it in action below showing a... slightly mesmerizing collection of random bits of footage. Let us know if you can find the hidden meaning.

How Does Anesthesia Disturb Self-Perception?

ScienceDaily (Jan. 19, 2011) — An Inserm research team in Toulouse, led by Dr Stein Silva (Inserm Unit 825 "Brain imaging and neurological handicaps"), working with the "Modelling tissue and nociceptive stress" Host Team (MATN IFR 150), were interested in studying the illusions described by many patients under regional anaesthetic. In their work, to be published in the journal Anesthesiology, the researchers demonstrated that anaesthetising an arm affects brain activity and rapidly impairs body perception.

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8 Beautiful Bioluminescent Creatures From the Sea

While a handful of land animals can create their own light, homemade luminescence is the rule rather than the exception in the open ocean's dark waters.

Researchers estimate that between 80 and 90 percent of deep-dwelling animals are bioluminous, creating light by mixing the pigment luciferin with luciferase, the enzyme that makes it glow. The light tends to green and blue, colors that travel far in seawater. Glowing helps attract mates, lure prey or confound predators.

Many of these animals live thousands of meters deep and are difficult for scientists to find and study. Here are some of the prettiest — and strangest — glowing creatures of the seas.

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Why First Impressions Are So Persistent

ScienceDaily (Jan. 18, 2011) — New research by a team of psychologists from Canada, Belgium, and the United States shows there is more than a literal truth to the saying that 'you never get a second chance to make a first impression'. The findings suggest that new experiences that contradict a first impression become 'bound' to the context in which they were made. As a result, the new experiences influence people's reactions only in that particular context, whereas first impressions still dominate in other contexts.

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Chrysler announces battery-free hydraulic hybrid tech, compresses gas to make power

By Tim Stevens  posted Jan 20th 2011 7:35AM

Think of a traditional hybrid and you probably think of a Toyota Prius. Then, after you've woken from your nap, you probably envision some complex system of batteries and electric motors and gears to capture power when braking and spit it back out when accelerating. Chrysler is now looking to deploy a different way, a seemingly much simpler way that's all based on hydraulics. The vehicle is outfitted with a low-pressure reservoir of hydraulic fluid and a high-pressure chamber filled with nitrogen gas. When braking, pumps move the fluid into the nitrogen chamber to compress it and then, when accelerating, that compressed gas is used to push the fluid and drive the wheels. It's a setup that was actually developed by the EPA and is currently in use by some commercial vehicles, most notably UPS trucks, but a hybrid Town & Country minivan could bring it to consumers -- though not until 2012 at the earliest. Now, there's a good chance the idea of a hybrid minivan is threatening to put you back to sleep, so we wish you pleasant dreams. 

Sharks Seen Swimming Down Australian Streets

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday January 19, @02:03AM 
from the we're-going-to-need-a-bigger-sidewalk dept.

shark

As if the flood waters weren't bad enough for the people of Queensland, it now appears that there are sharks swimming in the streets. Two bull sharks were spotted swimming past a McDonald’s in the city of Goodna, Butcher Steve Bateman saw another making its way past his shop on Williams street. Ipswich councillor for the Goodna region Paul Tully said: "It would have swam several kilometres in from the river, across Evan Marginson Park and the motorway. It’s definitely a first for Goodna, to have a shark in the main street."

Bad Science Writer Talks About the Placebo Effect *NSFW*

Posted by samzenpus on Tuesday January 18, @01:15PM
from the I-want-to-believe dept.

Watch

The Guardian newspaper's Bad Science columnist Dr. Ben Goldacre does a stand-up routine about medicine, the placebo effect, and the mysteries of the human body at Nerdstock. From a scientific standpoint, I can't accurately say how funny it is because I was told it was great before I saw it.

  idle science medicine datacock story

Infants Not Exempt from Obesity Epidemic

ScienceDaily (Jan. 4, 2011) — Most people understand that children are part of the obesity epidemic. However, a revealing new study finds that obesity might begin in babies as young as nine months old.

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How Europe Will Lower Emissions — Self Driving Cars

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday January 18, @02:14AM
from the do-they-drive-themselves-to-the-recycling-station dept.

earth

transportation

technology

thecarchik writes"Scientists in Europe are working closely with industry and government as part of a new initiative called SARTRE (SAfe Road TRains for the Environment), which hopes to develop self-driving technology that will allow vehicles to drive autonomously in long road trains on the highway. The team behind SARTRE has now conducted its first real world test, using a sole Volvo S60 sedan that followed a lead truck around the automaker's test facility near Gothenburg, Sweden. In the video, the driver is free to take his eyes off the road and his hands off the wheel. In fact, he uses neither his hands nor feet during the test. Subsequent phases of the work will be carried out in 2011, and early 2012 will see the concept demonstrated on a five-vehicle road train with strategies handling interaction with other road users."

GE Venture Will Share Jet Technology With China

Posted by Soulskill on Monday January 17, @10:03PM
from the send-them-the-tsa-while-you're-at-it dept.

business

transportation

vbraga writes"This week, during the visit of Chinese president Hu Jintao to the United States, GE plans to sign a joint-venture agreement in commercial aviation that shows the tricky risk-and-reward calculations American corporations must increasingly make in their pursuit of lucrative markets in China. GE, in partnership with a state-owned Chinese company, will be sharing its most sophisticated airplane electronics (NYT reg. required, reg.-free alternative here), including some of the same technology used in Boeing's new state-of-the-art 787 Dreamliner."

Motorola Atrix: another look (video)

By Paul Miller  posted Jan 9th 2011 9:07PM

Preview

Every CES there's something so alluring that we can't help going back for seconds (or thirds). This year it happens to be the Motorola Atrix, which is undoubtedly our gadget of the show, and which Myriam already put together an in-depth hands-on for. We've been using every excuse we can to swing past Motorola's booth "on our way" to other stuff on the show floor, and we finally broke down and went in for another hands-on. Check out our video walkthrough after the break, which hopefully should help explain the transition the Atrix can make from phone to desktop to laptop to set-top box. And please excuse our enthusiasm.

Motorola Atrix: another look