pumpkinpuss - Slashdot User

Submission + - U.S. Shoots Downs Long Range Sim Missile (washingtonpost.com)

Submitted by pumpkinpuss on Friday December 05, 2008 @11:59PM

pumpkinpuss writes: The U.S. military yesterday shot down a missile in a test simulating a long-range ballistic missile attack by a potential adversary such as North Korea or Iran. The target missile was launched from Kodiak Island, Alaska, at 3:04 p.m. Eastern time, tracked simultaneously by several ground and ship-based radars, and intercepted by a "kill vehicle" 3,000 kilometers away over the Pacific 25 minutes later, according to the Missile Defense Agency. According to Lt. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly, "The kill vehicle was sent to a very accurate spot in space giving us great confidence."

Most of Woolly Mammoth Genome Reconstructed 245

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday November 20, 2008 @08:57AM from the I-want-a-cave-bear dept.

geekmansworld writes "From the Washington Post, 'An international team of scientists has reconstructed more than three-quarters of the genome of the woolly mammoth using DNA extracted from balls of hair, the first time this has been accomplished for an extinct species.' Who wants a pet mammoth?"

3 Firms Confess To Fixing LCD Prices, Agree To Pay $585M Fine 417

Posted by timothy on Wednesday November 12, 2008 @05:37PM from the win-friends-and-influence-people dept.

Oldyeller89 writes "LG, Sharp, and Chunghwa Picture Tubes pleaded guilty to charges of price fixing in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. They fixed the prices on LCD screens used not only in their products but also in other products such as Apple's iPods. The three companies agreed to pay $585 million in fines. Perhaps this will cause the price of our TVs to drop?" The New York Times also has a story on the outcome of this case.

Sex Offender E-Mail Registry Signed Into Law 459

Posted by timothy on Wednesday October 15, 2008 @05:00PM from the island-of-liars-and-truth-tellers dept.

As noted in Wired yesterday, tragedy in chaos writes, "Senator and Presidential-hopeful John McCain has managed to get a new bill signed into law, in the hope of ridding online social networks of the sexual predation of children. The 'Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sexual Predators Act of 2008,' as it is called, calls for a database to be made in which all registered sexual offenders must also register their e-mail addresses so that MySpace, Facebook, etc. can run current and hopeful users through it, and eliminate access to the offenders. Though a noble goal, this is not very well thought out in methodology. They are asking known criminals to be honest, and are expecting them not to utilize any of the free and readily available e-mail services that exist so as to circumvent the system. There is also a potential for the crafty sex offender to possibly cause false positives by just registering an address that does not belong to them, thereby drawing in innocent bystanders."

Comment Evolution/Creationism (Score 3, Interesting) 513

by pumpkinpuss on Sunday September 28, 2008 @09:46PM (#25187551) Attached to: Be Part of the 2008 Presidential Youth Debate

Do you support the inclusion of creationism alongside evolution in high school curricula? If so, how can you justify teaching a science class with creationism's Christian slant? Also, how can you justify the potential unequal representation of Christianity's story when compared to creation stories told by other major religions?

China Announces Launch-Success Details — Before Launch 307

Posted by timothy on Thursday September 25, 2008 @06:43PM from the china's-government-!-china dept.

Ironsides writes "After faking the fireworks at the Olympics this year, one would have thought China had learned their lesson. Now, it appears they announced the success of their manned space mission before liftoff even occured, complete with dialogue."

Submission + - Shuttle launch pad damaged during Discovery's lift (spaceflightnow.com)

Submitted by pumpkinpuss on Monday June 02, 2008 @12:40PM

pumpkinpuss writes: Launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center suffered unusual damage during the shuttle Discovery's blastoff Saturday. Pictures from a NASA source show buckled concrete and numerous concrete blocks or bricks, presumably from the flame trench, littering a road behind the pad.

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