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Space

Ionospheric Interference With GPS Signals 127

Posted by kdawson from the trusting-your-garmin dept.
Roland Piquepaille writes "In recent years, we have become increasingly dependent on applications using the Global Positioning System, such as railway control, highway traffic management, emergency response, and commercial aviation. But the American Geophysical Union warns us that we can't always trust our GPS gadgets because 'electrical activity in the... ionosphere can tamper with signals from GPS satellites.' However, new research studies are under way and 'may lead to regional predictions of reduced GPS reliability and accuracy.'" Roland's blog has useful links and a summary of a free introduction, up at the AGU site, to a special edition of the journal Space Weather with seven articles (not free) regarding ionospheric effects on GPS.

Comment Il Sole authoritative? Maybe... (Score 2, Interesting) 387

by elpapacito (#23526748) Attached to: Successful Cold Fusion Experiment?
Setting aside the fact that a journal being more or less "authoritative" doesn't add nor subtract anything to the experiment itself , you are correct when saying it's quite a journal in Italy.

In Italy, in which an university professor of mathematics publicly pointed out that some articles published on the paper don't report factual lies, but they don't necessarily tell the whole story as well or report it very accurately.

Particularly, when it comes to articles that may or may not suggest some people to invest in privately owned pension funds, a good faith omission may quickly turn into a financial disaster for the little investor.

Nobody is saying that anybody is being paid or rewarded for emphasizing only some aspect of reality and not others, not at all! That would be so unethical that many of the prestigeous writers on IlSole would never sell out for money! Never, professionals don't sell their integrity for money.
Education

Journal Journal: Bringing Science and Math into Writing 434

Journal by wizwormathome
I am an eighth grade English teacher. While I have certain requirements as to which concepts to teach, thankfully I have no strict requirements on how I should go about this. This means that so long as I am teaching literary analysis and writing skills, the topic of those activities is always flexible. As much as I love my subject and believe in the value of skillful writing, I also believe that there is a terrible lack of interest in the sciences and maths among students in general. In some se
Patents

SCOTUS Set To Examine Combinatory Patents 116

Posted by Zonk from the grinding-old-into-new dept.
eldavojohn writes "The Washington Post is reporting that businesses are split on the current situation with patents in the United States. From the article: 'The court is scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday on what's obvious when older inventions are combined to create something new. The law says an invention that's "obvious" isn't patentable, but the definition isn't clear despite decades of litigation. The ambiguity, critics say, has led to an explosion of patents as companies stake claims on everything in sight, from strategies for avoiding taxes to golf ball designs. The result has been extensive and costly legal wrangling as companies of all sizes fight over who's infringing what. In some cases, small companies acquire patents not to develop new products but to sue for a quick windfall.' This sounds like some common criticism of the patent system that often pops up on Slashdot. The last part of the article mentions that most legal experts are expecting some changes to come of this. Hopefully soon we'll see some changes to the patent system for a better concept of intellectual property."
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Journal Journal: Foe

Journal by wizwormathome
"You can't tell nations they cannot have nukes while Israel is sitting right there in the middle of the lot with its unofficial nuclear arsenal." - PingXao

http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=204743&cid=16719739
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"Maybe as a society we should stop focusing on blame quite so much and focus MORE on the 'why' surrounding the behavior." - epyT-R

http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=200459&cid=16413561
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"As long as I'm not allowed to use my style of parenting on someone else's kids then those kids' behavior is the sole responsibility of their respective parents." - Score Whore

http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=200459&cid=16416323

The Daily Show as Substantive as Broadcast News 669

Posted by samzenpus from the can-I-be-on-the-show-now dept.
Walter C. writes "Anyone who watches the evening news with any regularity knows that it's not a bastion of substance. However, a new study conducted by researchers at Indiana University reports that The Daily Show has just as much substance to it as the broadcast news. 'The researchers looked at coverage of the 2004 Democratic and Republican national conventions and the first presidential debate of the fall campaign, all of which were covered by the mainstream broadcast news outlets and The Daily Show... There was just as much substance to The Daily Show's coverage as there was on the network news. And The Daily Show was much funnier, with less of the hype — references to photo ops, political endorsements, and polls — that typically overshadows substantive coverage on network news, according to the study.'"
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"Do you "prove" logic by testing it, or [is testing anything, 'to apply logic to the issue']? When something "becomes" science, that's because it never was philosophy. Philosophy is that discipline that provides you the tools with which you build science. Not the other way around."

-alexgieg

http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=198301&cid=16249055
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"I find it ironic that the people on the far left of the polictical spectrum perpetrating these acts are achieving the goals of the far right (halting the progress of science)."

-devbiowonk

http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=195107&cid=15987086
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"I'm sorry but I don't buy this crap of "We applaud people who do things like this and we don't stop members from doing it, but really it's not our fault that it happens!"

-Sycraft-fu

http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=195107&cid=15986993
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Unfairly modded as a troll regardless of the actual insight remark.

"They [the European community] only stand up to people who won't kill them or harm them." - geoffrobinson
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In a blaze of stupidity, this post was modded as insightful. For whatever reason, the poster and the mods apparently cannot tell the difference between domestic violence and terrorism.
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Unfairly modded as a troll while criticizing one of the most absurd analogies I have ever seen on Slashdot. (In next posting)

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