Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror

Comment Planet Nine coming soon (Score 1) 63

I got to see Mike Brown (@plutokiller) speak earlier this year. He said that if the Vera Rubin Observatory starts its principle mission October 1 as planned, it should detect Planet Nine by the end of the year. I guess that depends on its NSF-DOE funding holding up. P.S., Brown's 2010 book "How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming" is a very enjoyable read.

Comment molten salt reactor (Score 1) 189

Note also the construction of a molten salt research reactor on the campus of Abilene Christian University in Texas. The reactor happens to sit on the playground of the elementary school I attended, which the university acquired a few years ago (the school is in a new facility at a different location). https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Facu.edu%2Fresearch%2Fnext-...

Comment How did they find people to study? (Score 1) 67

We don't know how the study was conducted--especially how test subjects were found and selected--so there's little value in looking at the results. Likely this was presented at the conference but the reporter didn't know it was important. When this research gets properly published, then we'll know whether the results are believable.

Comment Yong (Score 3, Interesting) 53

1. I strongly recommend the book by Ed Yong "I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life" (2016).

2. Unfortunately, there haven't been many studies that have shown a beneficial effect on diseases by interventions on the microbiome. Not for lack of trying (i.e., there are many negative studies).

3. Nevertheless, eating plenty of vegetables and fruits is a good thing.

Comment Re:Well, yes? (Score 1) 56

On "Fresh Air" recently, Zeke Faux (author of "Number Go Up") said the supposed value of Bitcoin is in its scarcity, since only 21 million bitcoins can be made. He likened that to the fact there were 21 million VHS tapes of "Toy Story" and no more can be made, so they should be about as valuable as bitcoin.

Comment Molten salt reactor to be built in US (Score 1) 109

A molten salt reactor is about to be built at Abilene Christian University in Texas. ACU is leading a consortium of universities. The fuel will be uranium-235. The reactor building is on land which used to be my elementary school, which is something I didn't anticipate when I was a student there 40+ years ago. https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Facu.edu%2Fresearch%2Fnext-...

Slashdot Top Deals

Committees have become so important nowadays that subcommittees have to be appointed to do the work.

Working...