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Comment Business as Usual (Score 1) 1

by AstroPhilosopher (#43037897) Attached to: How Sequestration Will Impact NASA – Full Details
Fortunately for NASA, they haven’t sent a human past LEO in over 40 years so it’s obvious the sequester will have little to no impact on their future manned space exploration missions. Has anyone else noticed the ironic correlation of NASA complaining about budget cuts ever since they stopped sending humans beyond LEO? Well, at least they already decided to move forward with another Mars rover with zero return sample capabilities.

Comment Original Poster (Score 1) 138

by AstroPhilosopher (#43018409) Attached to: Terminator Sparrows?
Bad summarization? Not necessarily. In the Terminator series SkyNet placed living tissue over a robot in order to infiltrate human enclaves. Similarly, researchers placed robotics in a carcass in order to fool living sparrows. Exactly the same? No, but the premise is quite similar. The analogy was drawn simply to give the reader an idea of what happened since readers may be more familiar with the Terminator films than with ornithology, robotics, and taxidermy. Also, there are several meanings of the word re-animate; not just to bring the dead back to life. In this summary it is used in its abstract form. Finally, the summary clearly states exactly what was done (robotics placed into a carcass) and why (to study bird behavior) therefore even without reading the source one can properly deduce what transpired. I do not apologize for your confusion.

Submission + - Terminator Sparrows? (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by AstroPhilosopher
AstroPhilosopher writes: In a move not far removed from the model T-101, US researchers have succeeded in re-animating a dead sparrow. Duke scientists were studying male behavior aggression amongst sparrows. So they cleverly decided to insert miniaturized robotics into an empty sparrow carcass and operate it like a puppet. It worked; they noticed wing movements were a primary sign of aggression. Fortunately the living won out this time. The experiment stopped after the real sparrows tore off the robosparrow's head. But there's always a newer model on the assembly-line. Good luck sparrows.

Comment Single Happiness (Score 1) 6

Personally, I keep a track of my finances noting the money saved while single compared to dating or in a relationship. Also, since I entered IT in a later stage of life, I tend to remind myself of how I could have been at this (satisfying) stage earlier if not for wasting years in relationships that usually turn sour. Finally, considering the impact of entertainment and media on American women today, I decided to no longer date them; it has been my experience that women from other countries tend to be more devoted to relationships minus the unnecessary BS many American women like to inject into theirs. I like my money and I like my peace of mind. Being single ensures I keep both. However, this is simply my observation and by no means is meant to stereotype any women.

Comment Military Pilots (Score 1) 2

by AstroPhilosopher (#41970773) Attached to: Airlines Face Acute Pilot Shortage
Coincidently, this is something that concerned me and could have been addressed back in the 90’s; and possibly have changed (if so slightly) the outcome of September 11th, 2001. Many people are aware that many military pilots transfer their skills to the civilian sector (although transferring from fighter jets to passenger jets is a bit more tedious). What many people don’t know is that the Montgomery GI Bill, that many military personnel use to further their education, isn’t applicable to obtaining pilot licenses. Admittedly it will pay for the ATP and a few later certifications, but it does not cover any of the initial certifications (i.e. private, IFR, multi-engine, etc.). This is a pool of potential pilots that could easily be tapped into.
Transportation

Submission + - Airlines Face Acute Pilot Shortage 2

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "The WSJ reports that US airlines are facing their most serious pilot shortage since the 1960s, with federal mandates taking effect that will require all newly hired pilots to have at least 1,500 hours of prior flight experience—six times the current minimum—raising the cost and time to train new fliers in an era when pay cuts and more-demanding schedules already have made the profession less attractive. Meanwhile, thousands of senior pilots at major airlines soon will start hitting the mandatory retirement age of 65. "We are about four years from a solution, but we are only about six months away from a problem.,” says Bob Reding, recently retired executive vice president of operations at AMR Corp. A study by the University of North Dakota's aviation department indicates major airlines will need to hire 60,000 pilots by 2025 to replace departures and cover expansion over the next eight years. Meanwhile only 36,000 pilots have passed the Air Transport Pilot exam in the past eight years, which all pilots would have to pass under the congressionally imposed rules and there are limits to the ability of airlines, especially the regional carriers, to attract more pilots by raising wages. While the industry's health has improved in recent years, many carriers still operate on thin profit margins, with the airlines sandwiched between rising costs for fuel and unsteady demand from price-sensitive consumers. "It certainly will result in challenges to maintain quality," says John Marshall, an independent aviation-safety consultant who spent 26 years in the Air Force before overseeing Delta's safety. "Regional carriers will be creative and have to take shortcuts" to fill their cockpits."
Apple

Submission + - UK court sanctions Apple for non-compliance (groklaw.net)

Submitted by
drinkypoo
drinkypoo writes: "Per PJ over on Groklaw as always, "Since Apple did not comply with the order in its estimation, adding materials that were not ordered and in addition were "false", the judges ordered Apple to pay Samsung's lawyers' fees on an indemnity basis, and they add some public humiliation". And per the judge, "what Apple added was false and misleading". Your move, Apple."

Submission + - L'Aquila quake: Italy scientists guilty of manslaughter (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Six Italian scientists and an ex-government official have been sentenced to six years in prison over the 2009 deadly earthquake in L'Aquila.

A regional court found them guilty of multiple manslaughter.

Prosecutors said the defendants gave a falsely reassuring statement before the quake, while the defence maintained there was no way to predict major quakes.

The 6.3 magnitude quake devastated the city and killed 309 people
Space

Submission + - New Proof That the Moon Was Created in a Massive Collision 2

Submitted by derekmead
derekmead writes: New proof that the giant impact hypothesis is correct: A paper published today in Nature shares findings of a chemical analysis of Moon rocks that shows fractional differences between the makeup of the Earth and Moon that most likely were caused by the collision between Earth and a Mars-sized planet around 4.5 billion years ago.

Although the two are quite similar, it’s been previously shown that Moon rocks lack volatile elements, which suggests they may have evaporated during the incredibly intense heat and pressure created during an impact event. But if the hypothesis that light elements actually evaporated from Moon rocks during their formation is correct, you’d expect to find evidence of elements being layered by mass — heavier elements would condense first, and so on.

That process is known as isotopic fractionation — a concept central to carbon dating — and the Washington University team's results suggest they found exactly that. They compared the blend of zinc isotopes in Moon rocks and Earth samples, and found that the Moon rocks held slightly higher proportions of heavier zinc isotopes. If the Moon was indeed once part of Earth — which has been shown by extensive modeling — the difference in the balance of zinc profiles would most likely be explained by lighter zinc isotopes evaporating away following a collision.
Space

Submission + - First planet found in a four-star system... by amateur planet hunters

Submitted by
The Bad Astronomer
The Bad Astronomer writes: "For the first time, a planet has been found in a stellar system composed of four stars. The planet, called PH-1, orbits a binary star made of two sun-like stars in a tight orbit. That binary is itself orbited by another binary pair much farther out. Even more amazing, this planet was found by two "citizen scientists", amateurs who participated in Planet Hunters, a project which puts Kepler Observatory data online for lay people to analyze. At least two confirmed planets have been found by this project, but this is the first — ever — in a quaternary system."
Games

Submission + - EA won't green light any single player-only games (geek.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Frank Gibeau, the president of EA Labels, has shown that business truly does come before gameplay with comments he made as part of a preview document for the CloudGamingUSA event happening on September 11-12 in San Francisco.

Gibeau is very proud of the fact he has never green lit a single project that consisted solely of a single-player experience. He insists that every game EA publishes has an online component to it. His reason for doing this? Apparently EA has “evolved with consumers” suggesting he thinks this is what consumers want in every game.

As a consumer and gamer myself, I can totally disagree with his thinking. Forcing online into every game makes little sense. While it works for a Battlefield, Medal of Honor, Fifa, or Need for Speed title, there’s just as many games that don’t need it to succeed, or even work for online play. A good example of this would be the forthcoming SimCity , which has upset fans of the series because it will require an constant Internet connection to play. That isn’t a DRM measure, it’s due to the tight integration of multiplayer and how all players impact each others games.
Censorship

Submission + - Why Apple Should Stop Censoring Apps (readwriteweb.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: ReadWriteWeb makes the case that Apple should stop censoring submissions to the App Store. The company made headlines last week for banning an app showing the locations of drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia. The article says Apple should restrict its bans to apps that have terrible functionality or a poor UI, and 'get out of the business of censorship.' Quoting: 'Last year in Syria, antigovernment activists began using an iPhone app to disseminate news, maps, photos and videos about the conflict in a country that doesn't exactly rank highly for its press freedom. Mobile tech in the hands of Syrian dissidents proved enough of a nuisance that the government banned the iPhone in late 2011, presumably to quash content that the regime found, um, objectionable. This example raises a few questions. First, why are pins on a map more objectionable than photos and video clips from a war zone? Why does content that effectively agitates for one government to be overthrown make the cut, while content that may make another government look bad (depending on one's own perspective) doesn't? Is Apple taking sides in international conflicts? Perhaps more disturbing is the notion that, were Apple to apply these standards consistently, apps like the one used by Syrian dissidents — and perhaps some news apps — would be barred from the App Store as well.'

Comment False Pretense (Score 1) 1

by AstroPhilosopher (#41166923) Attached to: Best/Worst Drivers in the US
Cities claim that they install speed and traffic lights to 'improve safety' when in reality they install them to collect additional funds; especially during the recent recession. You want proof? If it's for safety then why don't they force violators to take driver ed courses since it's obvious they ignore laws? Paying a ticket does absolutely nothing to instill safe driving practices; it just makes the driver a little poorer and the city a littler richer.

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