fmackay - Slashdot User

Comment Re:A complementary approach (Score 1) 190

by fmackay on Thursday September 17, 2009 @06:11PM (#29459707) Attached to: A Galaxy-Sized Observatory For Gravitational Waves

With a sufficient number of pulsars there should be a pair such that a line between the two is sufficiently tangential to a gravitational wavefront to allow for coincidences to be detected in a period substantially shorter than a human lifetime.

I would be most surprised if the experiment was not designed so that this period should be less than the life expectancy of the lead researcher, less the median Nobel lag in Physics.

Nissan Adds Robot Helper To Its Concept Car 127

Posted by Zonk on Saturday October 27, 2007 @07:15AM from the i-don't-trust-glados-with-a-stick-shift dept.

narramissic writes "Nissan has mounted a robot passenger in the dashboard of its Pivo2 concept car whose job is to keep the driver happy, give spot-on directions, and even check your e-mail. 'We have data that happy drivers' accident rates are drastically lower than depressed ones, so this robot stays there to make sure the driver is happy always,' said Masato Inoue, chief designer at Nissan's exploratory design group, in an interview at the Motor Show. 'This guides the driver and sometimes cheers up the driver. For example, if the driver is irritated it might say 'Hey, you look somehow angry. Why? Please calm down.'' Other features of this vehicle include a cabin that can turn through 360 degrees so you never have to worry about looking behind when you back up and wheels that can twist 90 degrees, eliminating the need to parallel park." The article includes a video of the car talking to the driver, which is kind of adorable in a 'future is now' sorta way.

Comment Link to full text of fiction nominees (Score 2, Informative) 154

by fmackay on Saturday September 08, 2007 @12:45PM (#20521431) Attached to: 2007 Hugo Award Winners Announced

Here.

Most of them anyway - the Stross is a link to buy the ebook for a silly price, so why not try Accelerando instead, which is free, or any of a bunch of stories on his site.

Submission + - All people in UK should have DNA recorded: Judge (bbc.co.uk) 1

Submitted by ChiefGeneralManager on Wednesday September 05, 2007 @03:27AM

ChiefGeneralManager writes: Lord Justice Sedley, a UK appeal court Judge has proposed that the all people in the UK (inlcuding visitors) should have their DNA recorded on the national database. Sedley's argument is that the current database is 'indefensible' because it contains a hotch-potch mix of people, including children and those who've been in contact with the police. His view is we should make it compulsory for all DNA to be recorded to remove this anomaly. The UK Information Commissioner has expressed some concerns, but not dismissed the idea outright. Yet.

New Theory Explains Periodic Mass Extinctions 383

Posted by Zonk on Thursday August 02, 2007 @04:12PM from the we're-not-due-for-a-little-while-yet dept.

i_like_spam writes "The theory that the dinosaurs were wiped out by an asteroid impact, the K-T extinction, is well known and supported by fossil and geological evidence. Asteroid impact theory does not apply to the other fluctuations in biodiversity, however, which follow an approximate 62 million-year cycle. As reported in Science, a new theory seems to explain periodic mass extinctions. The new theory found that oscillations in the Sun relative to the plane of the Milky Way correlate with changes in biodiversity on Earth. The researchers suggest that an increase in the exposure of Earth to extragalactic cosmic rays causes mass extinctions. The original paper describing the findings is available online."

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