http://science.slashdot.org/ News for nerds, stuff that matters en-us Copyright 1997-2008, SourceForge, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 2008-05-12T13:10:26+00:00 SourceForge, Inc. help@slashdot.org Technology hourly 1 1970-01-01T00:00+00:00 http://images.slashdot.org/topics/topicslashdot.gif http://science.slashdot.org/ http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/288515575/article.pl Science News reports on a study relating (in a loose way) the efficiency of a national government with the size of its cabinet. Researchers in Vienna found that the development level of countries, as a proxy for the efficiency of their governments, is in general lower for countries with more members in the national cabinets. They then went on to model cabinet members as nodes in a network and found support for the observed correlation. There was even specific evidence for the decades-old observation of English historian Cyril Northcote Parkinson that decision-making is severely impaired in committees of more than 20 people. The US is getting close to Parkinson's cutoff, at 17.<p><a href="http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/11/2026230&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://science.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/11/2026230"></a></p><p><a href="http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/11/2026230&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?a=eZaabU"><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?i=eZaabU" border="0"></img></a></p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~4/288515575" height="1" width="1"/> kdawson 2008-05-12T07:12:00+00:00 government far-too-many-cooks news 63 63,61,53,42,20,15,9 http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/11/2026230&from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/288164156/article.pl Scientists at the European Space Agency are using techniques inspired by their experience with outer space to make new and better products here on Earth. Certain compounds and alloys which are not normally viable can be made in different ways once forces such as gravity are removed from the equation. From BBC News: "The near absence of gravity (microgravity) has a profound influence on the way molten metals come together to form intermetallics and 'standard' alloys. With no 'up' and 'down' in the space environment, a melt doesn't rise and sink as it would at the planet's surface and that means solidification can turn out very differently. 'Gravity induces a lot of segregation of the elements,' explains IMPRESS scientist Dr Guillaume Reinhart. 'For instance, tantalum and niobium are heavy atoms and in doing the solidification process on the ground, they will segregate in different places and produce a very heterogeneous material. If you do this in microgravity, you obtain a very homogenous material because you prevent separation; and you have a much more efficient material, mechanically.'"<p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/11/1626201&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://science.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/11/1626201"></a></p><p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/11/1626201&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?a=DYFU27"><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?i=DYFU27" border="0"></img></a></p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~4/288164156" height="1" width="1"/> Soulskill 2008-05-11T17:12:00+00:00 space think-outside-the-gravity-well tech 48 48,42,37,27,10,5,1 http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/11/1626201&from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/288078095/article.pl Roland Piquepaille writes "According to a Michigan State University (MSU) news release, 'Made-to-order isotopes hold promise on science's frontier,' nuclear physicists can now start a new career as isotope designers. These scientists can build specific rare isotopes to solve scientific problems and open doors to new technologies. The lead researcher says this approach has already given us the Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan technology. He's now going further, saying that he wants to build objects 100,000 times smaller than the atomic nucleus. He calls this 'femtotechnology.' Also available are additional details and pictures of the tools used for this kind of research, picked from a 415-page design paper." Update: 05/11 14:30 GMT by SS: Readers have noted that the summary inaccurately portrays the scale of the 'femtotechnology.' The MSU researcher refers to "the capacity to construct objects on an even more minute scale, that of the atomic nucleus 100,000 times smaller."<p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/11/132247&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://science.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/11/132247"></a></p><p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/11/132247&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?a=UGsgzm"><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?i=UGsgzm" border="0"></img></a></p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~4/288078095" height="1" width="1"/> Soulskill 2008-05-11T14:04:00+00:00 science better-than-the-walmart-isotopes science 65 65,61,41,37,7,3,1 http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/11/132247&from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/287900583/article.pl The Discovery Channel has done a deal with NASA to enhance old film footage from the space program up to the standards of HD. Discovery will air, in HD, a 6-part special called "When We Left Earth," beginning June 8. Judging by the trailer it should be pretty spectacular, a good introduction to the wonders of space exploration for a new generation. After the show airs, NASA gets the improved footage for their archives.<p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/11/0159239&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://science.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/11/0159239"></a></p><p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/11/0159239&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?a=C8QRHz"><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?i=C8QRHz" border="0"></img></a></p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~4/287900583" height="1" width="1"/> kdawson 2008-05-11T06:16:00+00:00 tv godspeed-john-glenn science 86 86,85,70,59,25,13,9 http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/11/0159239&from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/287625114/article.pl Science News reports on recent research indicating that any kind of multitasking while driving is dangerous. Not just the obvious distraction of juggling a cell phone, but even talking to a passenger or listening to a book on tape. The researchers used a driving simulator inside an MRI machine to measure brain activations. "Attending to what someone says galvanizes language-related brain areas while simultaneously reducing activity in spatial regions that coordinate driving behavior. This finding suggests that people who combine relatively automatic tasks, such as speech comprehension and car driving, exceed a biological limit on the amount of systematic brain activity they can accommodate at one time, the researchers propose. As a result, the less-ingrained skill &mdash; in this case, driving, which is learned long after a person grasps a native language &mdash; takes a neural hit."<p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/10/1625210&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://science.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/10/1625210"></a></p><p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/10/1625210&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?a=tqX75Q"><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?i=tqX75Q" border="0"></img></a></p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~4/287625114" height="1" width="1"/> kdawson 2008-05-10T18:10:00+00:00 transportation it's-the-attention-stupid tech 381 381,379,330,244,55,29,17 http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/10/1625210&from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/287492849/article.pl Ant writes "Popular Mechanics reports if the looming Discovery mission or any other between now and the spacecraft's retirement loses control, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is prepared to ditch it in the Atlantic ocean &mdash; or blow it up. The article also shows complete no-fly-zone maps and a photograph of the switch."<p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/10/119218&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://science.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/10/119218"></a></p><p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/10/119218&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?a=5UEIGd"><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?i=5UEIGd" border="0"></img></a></p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~4/287492849" height="1" width="1"/> CmdrTaco 2008-05-10T13:28:00+00:00 nasa explosions-are-cool science 192 192,182,151,120,47,28,19 http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/10/119218&from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/287099529/article.pl coondoggie writes to tell us that NASA and JAXA (the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) have announced a partnership to study the sonic boom. Hoping to find the key to the next generation of supersonic aircraft, the research will include a look at JAXA's "Silent Supersonic Technology Demonstration Program." "The change in air pressure associated with a sonic boom is only a few pounds per square foot -- about the same pressure change experienced riding an elevator down two or three floors. It is the rate of change, the sudden onset of the pressure change, that makes the sonic boom audible, NASA said. All aircraft generate two cones, at the nose and at the tail. They are usually of similar strength and the time interval between the two as they reach the ground is primarily dependent on the size of the aircraft and its altitude. Most people on the ground cannot distinguish between the two and they are usually heard as a single sonic boom. Sonic booms created by vehicles the size and mass of the space shuttle are very distinguishable and two distinct booms are easily heard."<p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/09/1937253&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://science.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/09/1937253"></a></p><p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/09/1937253&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?a=uFovGs"><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?i=uFovGs" border="0"></img></a></p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~4/287099529" height="1" width="1"/> ScuttleMonkey 2008-05-09T21:20:00+00:00 nasa softer-side-of-soar science 183 183,182,158,131,41,27,18 http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/09/1937253&from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/287028807/article.pl suso writes ""The estimated population of the world will pass 6,666,666,666 today. No doubt an interesting number for people everywhere (not referring to any religion connotations). 5,555,555,555 was passed about 14 years ago. You may not realize that only a 80 years ago, the population of the Earth was only around 2 billion. This shows how the population of the world has increased at an alarming rate in recent times. Although the growth rate is almost half what it was at its peak in 1963, when it was 2.2%. Unrelated but also an interesting coincidence, the estimated number of available IPv4 addresses is getting very close to 666,666,666. It should cross over today as well.""<p><a href="http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/09/1721239&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://science.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/09/1721239"></a></p><p><a href="http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/09/1721239&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?a=E2WKQS"><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?i=E2WKQS" border="0"></img></a></p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~4/287028807" height="1" width="1"/> ScuttleMonkey 2008-05-09T18:52:00+00:00 news your-special-and-unique-just-like-everyone-else news 639 639,628,492,349,102,66,52 http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/09/1721239&from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/286619517/article.pl FudRucker points out a story from The Guardian about NASA's plans to visit 2000SG344, an asteroid 40 meters wide and weighing roughly 71 million kilograms. The manned mission would take three to six months, and it would make use of the Orion spacecraft, which will be replacing to retiring space shuttle fleet. "A report seen by the Guardian notes that by sending astronauts on a three-month journey to the hurtling asteroid, scientists believe they would learn more about the psychological effects of long-term missions and the risks of working in deep space, and it would allow astronauts to test kits to convert subsurface ice into drinking water, breathable oxygen and even hydrogen to top up rocket fuel. All of which would be invaluable before embarking on a two-year expedition to Mars. As well as giving space officials a taste of more complex missions, samples taken from the rock could help scientists understand more about the birth of the solar system and how best to defend against asteroids that veer into Earth's path."<p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/09/0232227&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://science.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/09/0232227"></a></p><p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/09/0232227&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?a=G02zxJ"><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?i=G02zxJ" border="0"></img></a></p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~4/286619517" height="1" width="1"/> Soulskill 2008-05-09T06:15:00+00:00 nasa how-good-is-your-aim science 204 204,199,171,129,41,26,19 http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/09/0232227&from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/286447707/article.pl elwinc writes "There's a great New Yorker story about Nathan Myhrvold's Intellectual Ventures company, whose business model is to nurture ideas, write patents, and sell them. Apparently they're filing about 500 patents a year including a passive thorium reactor which consumes waste from conventional reactors. On the lighter side, you can read how Nathan has achieved 'dominant T. rex market share.'" Though we've discussed Myhrvold and his company in the past, the New Yorker focuses more on how incredible it is to have a group of very intelligent people sitting around a table developing ideas.<p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/08/2253249&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://science.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/08/2253249"></a></p><p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/08/2253249&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?a=7u36Fx"><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?i=7u36Fx" border="0"></img></a></p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~4/286447707" height="1" width="1"/> Soulskill 2008-05-09T00:10:00+00:00 patents ok-let's-run-with-that yro 136 136,132,109,87,35,25,16 http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/08/2253249&from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/286372325/article.pl a boy named woo writes "Tired of justifying your gaming addiction? Now you can really help accomplish something while you play... thanks to Howard Hughes Medical Institute researcher David Baker at the University of Washington." In collaboration with others, Baker has designed a game, called "Foldit," with a practical outcome: players manipulate on-screen images of protein chains and attempt to predict their folding patterns. From the article: "'Our main goal was to make sure that anyone could do it, even if they didn't know what biochemistry or protein folding was,' says [co-creator Zoran] Popovic. At the moment, the game only uses proteins whose three-dimensional structures have been solved by researchers. But, says Popovic, 'soon we'll be introducing puzzles for which we don't know the solution.'"<p><a href="http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/08/2112208&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://science.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/08/2112208"></a></p><p><a href="http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/08/2112208&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?a=TdzwvX"><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?i=TdzwvX" border="0"></img></a></p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~4/286372325" height="1" width="1"/> timothy 2008-05-08T21:37:00+00:00 biotech folding-@-play games 129 129,128,106,73,32,19,14 http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/08/2112208&from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/286040589/article.pl tracer818 writes "In order to study a person as if they were in space without gravity, NASA scientists are paying subjects $17,000 to stay in bed for 90 straight days. The study will follow the Bed Rest Project standard model and be conducted at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. Participants will live in a special research unit for the entire study and be fed a carefully controlled diet."<p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/08/0325252&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://science.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/08/0325252"></a></p><p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/08/0325252&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?a=doJ3gl"><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?i=doJ3gl" border="0"></img></a></p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~4/286040589" height="1" width="1"/> samzenpus 2008-05-08T11:57:00+00:00 nasa I-know-someone-perfect-for-this science 239 239,234,185,130,50,33,26 http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/08/0325252&from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/285917995/article.pl hackingbear writes "Unsatisfied by the reliance on American GPS navigation systems and not feeling much security joining the European Galileo system, China will expand its 4-satellite Beidou navigation system to a full-fledged, competitive, and encrypted system by 2010."<p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/07/227255&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://science.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/07/227255"></a></p><p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/07/227255&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?a=TPqdHg"><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?i=TPqdHg" border="0"></img></a></p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~4/285917995" height="1" width="1"/> samzenpus 2008-05-08T07:24:00+00:00 space in-space-nobody-can-hear-the-competition science 217 217,202,161,121,36,18,7 http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/07/227255&from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/285835949/article.pl TangAddict writes "Dr. Alan Weston, who previously invented bungee jumping, led a team of scientists at NASA Ames Research Center to build a $4 million spacecraft in less than two years. The Modular Common Spacecraft Bus is designed to accept payloads of up to 50kg. and can be used for a variety of missions including a rendezvous with asteroids, orbiting Earth or Mars, and landing on the moon. When NASA officials saw the first flight test, they offered Weston and his team $80 million to use their design for the LADEE mission, which will gather dust and atmosphere samples from the moon in 2011."<p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/08/0116200&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://science.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/08/0116200"></a></p><p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/08/0116200&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?a=KyM6Lh"><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?i=KyM6Lh" border="0"></img></a></p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~4/285835949" height="1" width="1"/> samzenpus 2008-05-08T04:34:00+00:00 nasa now-featuring-walls science 123 123,120,97,73,32,22,18 http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/08/0116200&from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/285773797/article.pl RickRussellTX writes "The DOE awarded $126.6 million in grants today to projects that will pump 1 million tons of CO2 into underground caverns at sites in California and Ohio. Environmental groups call carbon sequestration "a scam", claiming that it is too expensive and uncertain to be competitive with non-coal alternatives like wind and solar. I just hope nobody drops a Mentos down the wrong pipe."<p><a href="http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/07/223243&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://science.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/07/223243"></a></p><p><a href="http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/07/223243&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?a=r6pNlL"><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~a/Slashdot/slashdotScience?i=r6pNlL" border="0"></img></a></p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~4/285773797" height="1" width="1"/> samzenpus 2008-05-08T02:11:00+00:00 earth out-of-sight-out-of-mind news 484 484,476,389,286,70,41,30 http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/07/223243&from=rss Search Slashdot stories query http://science.slashdot.org/search.pl