I found this site in ~2000 (about when India got TCP/IP in an affordable way) and I've been there ever since (though I only realised I could register much later).
Its been the only site that I check every day for the last 10 years. That is amazing consistency for me!

Thanks and all the best with whatever you decide to do!

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2005/07dec_moonstorms/

Nope, there are moonstorms. From the link:

"All this matters to NASA because, by 2018 or so, astronauts are returning to the Moon. Unlike Apollo astronauts, who never experienced lunar sunrise, the next explorers are going to establish a permanent outpost. They'll be there in the morning when the storm sweeps by.

The wall of dust, if it exists, might be diaphanous, invisible, harmless. Or it could be a real problem, clogging spacesuits, coating surfaces and causing hardware to overheat.

Which will it be? Says Stubbs, "we've still got a lot to learn about the Moon."

Hello Dr. Barski,

Thanks for taking part in this discussion - I appreciate it - it is always great to chat with the author of a book on a subject you like..! I have a problem that I am hoping you, as an author of a book that teaches a language, might have some insight into. Thanks for taking the time to read this :)

I've been on the internet in one way or another since the early 90's (I started out using bulletin board services, yahoo was a directory listing, and I used GOPHER/ARCHIE) on 14.4K and then 56K modems to start with - so I would like to think that I have some skill with technical stuff. However, I have tried and repeatedly failed over the years to learn any programming language -though I can hack together simple shell scripts and PERL scripts to get the job done in a pinch. I suspect this is might be because of two reasons:

a) Lack of a real problem to solve (i.e. lack of motivation)

b) Programming requires a completely different way of thinking that is alien to me. So I can never 'get it' :/

Since I am now a biologist doing my PhD in molecular genetics, where I often work with large-scale datasets (RNA sequencing data, microarray data, genome-wide mRNA expression data, etc), good programming skills would allow me to ask questions that I cannot even consider because of lack of skill. This gives me my problem that I need to solve. However, I have spent lots of time trying to learn LISP/Scheme/Python and failed miserably. I am very tempted to get your book, and I recognize that you cannot ensure that I learn programming; however, I was hoping you had some tips or suggestions on how I could approach the topic and learning the/a language in general.

Thanks!

Mod parent up.. Seriously, the govt does the right thing, the company decides to do what it thinks is right (which seems to suggest an element of choice..) and 70% here is still whining....

The post header is a flamebait - and the mods have really screwed up for not having caught it. If you read the TFA (yes yes, I know this is /.), the article headline says "Shell dumps wind, solar and hydro power in favour of biofuels" They are saying that compared to investing in wind, solar and hydro, they want to invest in biofuel reseach, since they think it will be profitable (duh! they are a company - they exist to make a reasonable profit). The impression I got from reading the slashdot post header was that shell has decided to go completely out of alternative energy (/non fossil fuels) entirely. Posting sensationalist headlines is o.k. for mags - why do that here on /.?

I found this image from Nature magazine useful in imagining how 1 gm of graphene can have such a large surface area..

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v427/n6974/fig_tab/nature02311_F1.html