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Slashdot Daily Newsletter

In this issue:
* Science and Religion Can and Do Mix, Mostly
* Congress May Permit Robot Calls To Cell Phones
* Man Charged in Model Airplane Plot To Bomb Pentagon
* Chrome Set To Take No. 2 Spot From Firefox
* Ask Slashdot: Best Long-Term Video/Picture Storage?
* Outlining a World Where Software Makers Are Liable For Flaws
* 150th Anniversary of Greenhouse Climate Theory
* To Stop BEAST, Mozilla Developer Proposes Blocking Java Framework
* Amazon's New Silk Redefines Browser Tech
* China Launches Space Station Laboratory Module
* A Third of Sun-Like Stars May Have Warm Earth Analogs
* Why Chilies Are Hot and Yogurt Puts Out the Fire
* Rob Malda Casts a Jaded Eye at Amazon's Silk
* HP Touch Pad Still Popular<nobr> <wbr></nobr>... With HP Employees
* London Needs 70,000 Cells For 4G
* Science Manual For US Judges
* Tevatron Has Come To the End of Its Run
* Graphene and Quantum Hall Effect Could Help Redefine Metrics
* NASA To Demonstrate Largest-Ever Solar Sail in Space
* RIM Changes Stance On PlayBook's Android Support
* Mercury Turns Out To Be a Weird Little World
* Put On Your 3D Glasses &mdash; Class Is About To Start
* Patent Trolls In Biotechnology
* 2011 Ig Nobel Prizes
* Righthaven Loses In Colorado; Abused the Copyright Act
* Panasonic To Unveil New Helper Robots

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Science and Religion Can and Do Mix, Mostly
| from the can't-we-all-just-get-along? dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Thursday September 29, @00:34 (Science)
| with 1204 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/0015256/science-and-religion-can-and-do-mix-mostly?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]coondoggie writes "An interesting study by Rice University recently
found that in one of the one of the more voracious social (and
increasingly political) battlegrounds, science v. religion, there is more
common ground that most folks believe. In fact, according to the study,
only 15% of scientists at major U.S. research universities see
[1]religion and science as always in conflict."

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/0015256/science-and-religion-can-and-do-mix-mostly?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://networkworld.com/
1. http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/science-and-religion-can-and-do-mix-mostly

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Congress May Permit Robot Calls To Cell Phones
| from the your-time-is-very-important-to-us-please-hold dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday September 29, @12:21 (Cellphones)
| with 539 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/1516211/congress-may-permit-robot-calls-to-cell-phones?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TCPALaw writes "While many hoaxes have circulated in the past about cell
phone numbers being opened up to telemarketers, it now may actually
happen. A bill, [0]HR 3035 (PDF), has been introduced in Congress, that
would create numerous exceptions to the [1]Telephone Consumer Protection
Act, which banned autodialed and prerecorded robot calls to cell phone
numbers. If passed, HR 3035 would permit a wide range of autodialed and
prerecorded calls to cell phones that are currently prohibited, and would
preempt practically all state laws providing similar protections. This is
being [2]applauded by debt collectors and banks (PDF) ... as if the
bailouts weren't enough, now they get to make you pay for their calls to
you."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/1516211/congress-may-permit-robot-calls-to-cell-phones?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr3035ih/pdf/BILLS-112hr3035ih.pdf
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_Consumer_Protection_Act_of_1991
2. http://www.cbanet.org/files/FileDownloads/MobileInformationalCallActLetter.pdf

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Man Charged in Model Airplane Plot To Bomb Pentagon
| from the mad-bomber dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Wednesday September 28, @20:17 (Security)
| with 484 comments
| https://it.slashdot.org/story/11/09/28/236211/man-charged-in-model-airplane-plot-to-bomb-pentagon?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]garymortimer writes "A 26-year-old Massachusetts man with a physics
degree was arrested and charged Wednesday with plotting an [1]attack on
the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol with remote-controlled model aircraft,
authorities said. Rezwan Ferdaus, a U.S. citizen from Ashland,
Massachusetts, planned to use model aircraft filled with C-4 plastic
explosives. As a result of an undercover FBI investigation, Ferdaus, who
has a physics degree from Northeastern University in Boston, was charged
with attempting to provide material support and resources to al Qaeda for
attacks on U.S. soldiers overseas. His federal public defender couldn't
be reached immediately for comment."

Discuss this story at:
https://it.slashdot.org/story/11/09/28/236211/man-charged-in-model-airplane-plot-to-bomb-pentagon?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.suasnews.com/
1. http://edition.cnn.com/2011/09/28/us/massachusetts-pentagon-plot-arrest/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Chrome Set To Take No. 2 Spot From Firefox
| from the who-does-number-two-work-for? dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday September 29, @16:06 (Chrome)
| with 441 comments
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/1945201/chrome-set-to-take-no-2-spot-from-firefox?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]CWmike writes "Google's Chrome is on the brink of replacing Firefox as
the second-most-popular browser, says the Web statistics firm
StatCounter, which shows that Chrome [1]will pass Firefox to take the No.
2 spot behind Microsoft's IE no later than December. As of Wednesday,
Chrome's global average user share for September was 23.6%, while
Firefox's stood at 26.8%. IE, meanwhile, was at 41.7%. The climb of
Chrome during 2011 has been astonishing: It has gained eight percentage
point since January 2011, representing a 50% increase. During that same
period, Firefox has dropped almost four percentage points, a decline of
about 13%, while IE has also fallen four points, a 9% dip. That means
Chrome is essentially reaping all the defections from Firefox and IE."

Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/1945201/chrome-set-to-take-no-2-spot-from-firefox?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.computerworld.com/
1. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9220396/Chrome_poised_to_take_No._2_browser_spot_from_Firefox

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Ask Slashdot: Best Long-Term Video/Picture Storage?
| from the y'tell-the-kids-that-today-they-don'-believe-ye dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday September 29, @14:32 (Data Storage)
| with 397 comments
| https://ask.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/1715251/ask-slashdot-best-long-term-videopicture-storage?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First time accepted submitter (and first-time parent — congratulations!)
SoylentRed writes "I recently have had my first kid, a wonderful healthy
daughter who is now just over 6 months old. As one can expect, we have an
abundance of photos and videos, and have started to scratch our heads
about the best way to store these files and back them up long-term. My
parents have asked us (funny thing is it was my mom — the least
tech-savvy person among our family) what our plan is to make sure these
files are saved and available for her when she is older — which made me
realize that we don't really have a good plan! We are currently using
TimeMachine on my wife's MacBook Pro; for now we are doing OK with that
as a back-up. But my parents have offered to help pay for something that
might be a better solution. We could burn DVDs — but that is tedious and
gets to be a pain as we would need to back those up (or recopy) them
every year or so to be sure we aren't suffering from degrading DVDs. Is
our best option right now to pick up two hard drives, back up all our
pictures and videos to the first, and then use a 3rd party app to mirror
that drive to the second just in case one of them craps out? Is there an
online solution that would be better? We are still a few years away from
being able to afford the DVDs/CDs that are the 100+ year discs. Is there
a better solution I haven't thought of?"

Discuss this story at:
https://ask.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/1715251/ask-slashdot-best-long-term-videopicture-storage?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Outlining a World Where Software Makers Are Liable For Flaws
| from the mattress-has-a-pea-beneath dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday September 29, @17:39 (Software)
| with 357 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/2045232/outlining-a-world-where-software-makers-are-liable-for-flaws?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]CowboyRobot writes with this piece at the ACM Queue, in which
"Poul-Henning Kamp [1]makes the argument for software liability laws. 'We
have to do something that actually works, as opposed to accepting a
security circus in the form of virus or malware scanners and other
mathematically proven insufficient and inefficient efforts. We are
approaching the point where people and organizations are falling back to
pen and paper for keeping important secrets, because they no longer trust
their computers to keep them safe.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/2045232/outlining-a-world-where-software-makers-are-liable-for-flaws?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://acetio.com/
1. http://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=2030258

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 150th Anniversary of Greenhouse Climate Theory
| from the it's-getting-hot-in-here dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Thursday September 29, @00:08 (Earth)
| with 304 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/0322220/150th-anniversary-of-greenhouse-climate-theory?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An anonymous reader writes "It was 150 years ago that John Tyndall, one
of history's truly great physicists, published a scientific paper with
the far-from-snappy title On the Absorption and Radiation of Heat by
Gases and Vapours, and on the Physical Connexion of Radiation,
Absorption, and Conduction. The BBC has an article on John Tyndall and
his contributions 150 years ago to [0]the physics behind the study of
climate change."

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/0322220/150th-anniversary-of-greenhouse-climate-theory?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15093234

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| To Stop BEAST, Mozilla Developer Proposes Blocking Java Framework
| from the nuclear-option dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday September 29, @09:28 (Firefox)
| with 284 comments
| https://developers.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/1323235/to-stop-beast-mozilla-developer-proposes-blocking-java-framework?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

rastos1 writes with this news from The Register: "In a demonstration last
Friday, it took less than two minutes for researchers Thai Duong and
Juliano Rizzo to wield the exploit to recover an encrypted authentication
cookie used to access a PayPal user account. ... The researchers settled
on a Java applet as their means to bypass SOP, leading Firefox developers
to [0]discuss blocking the framework in a future version of the browser.
... 'I recommend that we blocklist all versions of the Java Plugin,'
Firefox developer Brian Smith wrote on Tuesday in a discussion on
Mozilla's online bug forum. 'My understanding is that Oracle may or may
not be aware of the details of the same-origin exploit. As of now, we
have no ETA for a fix for the Java plugin.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://developers.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/1323235/to-stop-beast-mozilla-developer-proposes-blocking-java-framework?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/09/29/firefox_killing_java/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Amazon's New Silk Redefines Browser Tech
| from the look-differently dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Wednesday September 28, @22:15 (Cloud)
| with 222 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/008247/amazons-new-silk-redefines-browser-tech?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]angry tapir writes "While the [1]Kindle Fire tablet consumed much of
the focus at Amazon's launch event Wednesday in New York, the company
also showed off a bit of [2]potentially radical software technology as
well, the new browser for the Fire, called Silk. Silk is different from
other browsers because it can be configured to let Amazon's cloud service
do much of the work assembling complex Web pages. The result is that
users may experience much faster load times for Web pages, compared to
other mobile devices, according to the company."

Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/008247/amazons-new-silk-redefines-browser-tech?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.techworld.com.au/
1. http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/09/28/156201/amazon-kindle-fire-surfaces
2. http://www.techworld.com.au/article/402401/amazon_new_silk_redefines_browser_tech/?fp=16&fpid=1

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| China Launches Space Station Laboratory Module
| from the all-space-stations-must-charge-with-micro-usb dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday September 29, @13:49 (China)
| with 153 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/1656213/china-launches-space-station-laboratory-module?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

wisebabo writes with news from CNN that "[0]China's first space
laboratory module launched Thursday, according to state-run media, an
important milestone in China's plan to build a space station." The
module, known as [1]Tiangong-1, features sleeping areas and exercise
equipment. Writes wisebabo: "In another universe (Arthur C. Clarke's 2011),
it would be on its way to Europa by now. Anyone know what orbital
plane/altitude it's at? Can it be reached by NASA/Soyuz? Are the docking
ports compatible? How about the air pressure/breathing mix?"

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/1656213/china-launches-space-station-laboratory-module?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://edition.cnn.com/2011/09/29/world/china-space-launch/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiangong_1

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| A Third of Sun-Like Stars May Have Warm Earth Analogs
| from the where-do-you-think-the-off-world-colonies-are? dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday September 29, @13:06 (Earth)
| with 145 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/163231/a-third-of-sun-like-stars-may-have-warm-earth-analogs?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]The Bad Astronomer writes "An astronomer studying data from the first
136 days of the Kepler observatory missions has calculated that as many
as [1]34% of all Sun-like stars ([2]abstract) may have Earth-sized
planets orbiting in their habitable zones, where conditions are right for
life as we know it. [3]I have some reservations with his numbers, but
they do match other studies. There may be 15 billion warm, Earth-sized
worlds in our galaxy alone."

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/163231/a-third-of-sun-like-stars-may-have-warm-earth-analogs?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. mailto:thebadastronomer.gmail@com
1. http://arxiv.org/pdf/1109.4682v1
2. http://arxiv.org/abs/1109.4682
3. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/09/29/new-study-13-of-sun-like-stars-might-have-terrestrial-planets-in-their-habitable-zones/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Why Chilies Are Hot and Yogurt Puts Out the Fire
| from the hence-the-kefir-in-the-spray-bottle dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday September 29, @15:40 (Australia)
| with 140 comments
| https://idle.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/1911213/why-chilies-are-hot-and-yogurt-puts-out-the-fire?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

bazzalunatic writes "The hottest chili in the world was made by
Australians earlier this year, but how did they get the chilies so hot?
Seems that [0]worm juice is the key to revving up the capsaicin. And milk
and yogurt are best to douse the heat, as they have fats that can absorb
the capsaicin — which actually hijacks the neurons that detect heat."

Discuss this story at:
https://idle.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/1911213/why-chilies-are-hot-and-yogurt-puts-out-the-fire?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/why-chillies-are-hot-the-science-behind-the-heat.htm

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Rob Malda Casts a Jaded Eye at Amazon's Silk
| from the healthy-skepticism dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday September 29, @11:37 (Cloud)
| with 135 comments
| https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/1440245/rob-malda-casts-a-jaded-eye-at-amazons-silk?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

m.ducharme writes "Slashdot's recently departed editor and Fearless
Leader muses about the [0]security implications of [1]Amazon's Silk,
which uses Amazon's massive cloud computing services to provide
'pre-caching' for the new Fire devices." Another potential downside to
bear in mind (depending on exactly how much Silk relies on the AWS
infrastructure) is that it provides a single point of failure, and
[2]sometimes [3]cloud [4]services [5]go down.

Discuss this story at:
https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/1440245/rob-malda-casts-a-jaded-eye-at-amazons-silk?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://cmdrtaco.net/2011/09/silk-a-possible-fireball/
1. https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/008247/amazons-new-silk-redefines-browser-tech
2. http://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/12/30/1448235/lessons-learned-from-skypes-outage
3. http://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/09/23/2114237/facebook-is-down
4. http://slashdot.org/story/11/04/21/1515238/major-outage-at-the-amazon-web-services
5. http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/09/01/218209/gmail-experiences-serious-outage

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| HP Touch Pad Still Popular<nobr> <wbr></nobr>... With HP Employees
| from the they-were-there-when-it-happened dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday September 29, @08:49 (HP)
| with 126 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/1225200/hp-touch-pad-still-popular--with-hp-employees?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Earl The Squirrel joins the army of Slashdot submitters, with a story
that dampens my hopes to get one of the last (cheap) HP Touch Pads. He
writes: "Today HP made available to their employees (via their EPP store)
one last batch of HP Touch Pads. The [0]response has been so overwhelming
that if you go to the HP store right now, you'll get the 'Please try
again later' page. HP employees have 'slashdotted' their own store."

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/1225200/hp-touch-pad-still-popular--with-hp-employees?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.thinq.co.uk/2011/9/29/hp-employees-rush-buy-last-ever-touchpads/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| London Needs 70,000 Cells For 4G
| from the add-a-few-more dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Thursday September 29, @03:05 (Communications)
| with 116 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/0222202/london-needs-70000-cells-for-4g?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]judgecorp writes "How many cells does it take to cover a city? In
London's case, [1]it will take 70,000 cells by 2015 for the
next-generation LTE network needed for 4G mobile broadband, according to
a calculation from PicoChip. A shame that's too late for 2012, when Mayor
Boris Johnson warns that mobile data demands during the Olympics may
overload the current 3G network"

Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/0222202/london-needs-70000-cells-for-4g?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/
1. http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/london-needs-70000-cells-for-4g-broadband-40779

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Science Manual For US Judges
| from the listen-to-the-scientific-laws dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Thursday September 29, @08:07 (Government)
| with 113 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/0241219/science-manual-for-us-judges?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An anonymous reader writes "[0]American court judges need to learn
science. That's the message from the National Academies and the National
Research Council, which today released the first new edition in 11 years
of the Reference Manual of Scientific Evidence. It has new chapters about
forensic science, mental health, and neuroscience, but unfortunately
nothing about computer science. [1]The manual is available as a free
download and [2]it's also online."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/0241219/science-manual-for-us-judges?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.law.com/jsp/lawtechnologynews/PubArticleLTN.jsp?id=1202517183891&Science_Manual_for_Judges_Updated&slreturn=1
1. http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13163
2. http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13163#toc

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Tevatron Has Come To the End of Its Run
| from the spin-one-for-the-gipper dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday September 29, @10:53 (Technology)
| with 105 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/1424244/tevatron-has-come-to-the-end-of-its-run?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Med-trump writes "The U.S. government's Chicago-area Fermilab has been at
the forefront of high-energy physics. That's in large part thanks to the
Tevatron, the machine that first reached the energies needed to discover
the last quark in the Standard Model. But the [0]Tevatron has come to the
end of its run; at 2pm on Friday, it will be shut down for the last
time."

Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/1424244/tevatron-has-come-to-the-end-of-its-run?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2011/09/as-its-tevatron-collider-goes-dark-fermilab-ponders-a-muon-rich-future.ars

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Graphene and Quantum Hall Effect Could Help Redefine Metrics
| from the no-paywall-and-that-rocks dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday September 29, @10:11 (Science)
| with 88 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/1346224/graphene-and-quantum-hall-effect-could-help-redefine-metrics?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]eldavojohn writes "The National Physical Laboratory has published
research in Nature [1]that could lead to redefining two of our most
commonly used metrics. There's been [2]a lot of trouble stemming from
defining an exact Kilogram as some lump of platinum-iridium sitting in a
glass case somewhere so the proposal was put forth to study [3]the
quantum hall effect with different materials. Enter the [4]Nobel prize
winning, [5]super strong, [6]silicon usurping graphene. NPL now says you
can add quantum resistance metrology to the list of graphene's many
conquests as they say the quantum hall effect in graphene is 'very robust
and easy to measure.' With this at their disposal, the Kilogram may be
redefined in terms of h, the [7]Planck constant, and the Ampere may be
redefined in terms of e, the electron charge (alias [8]Elementary charge
or the charge of a proton). You can find [9]the full paper here."

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/1346224/graphene-and-quantum-hall-effect-could-help-redefine-metrics?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://patternizer.com/
1. http://www.npl.co.uk/news/npl-graphene-research-highlighted-in-nature
2. http://science.slashdot.org/story/11/01/30/2210225/Kilogram-Gets-Controversial-Why-Not-Split-the-Difference
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_Hall_effect
4. http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/10/10/05/1534213/Nobel-Prize-in-Physics-For-Discovery-of-Graphene
5. http://science.slashdot.org/story/11/04/21/145259/graphene-super-paper-is-10x-stronger-than-steel
6. http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/08/03/24/2146217/graphene-may-be-the-new-silicon
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck_constant
8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elementary_charge
9. http://iopscience.iop.org/1367-2630/13/9/093026

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| NASA To Demonstrate Largest-Ever Solar Sail in Space
| from the they've-pointed-her-bow-to-the-southern-star dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday September 29, @10:30 (NASA)
| with 87 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/140207/nasa-to-demonstrate-largest-ever-solar-sail-in-space?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zothecula writes "NASA's upcoming Technology Demonstration Missions are
intended to 'transform its space communications, deep space navigation
and in-space propulsion capabilities.' Three project proposals have been
selected for these missions, which should be launching in 2015 and 2016.
One of those projects will involve demonstrating a mission-capable
[0]solar sail. While NASA has recently tested a solar sail measuring 100
square feet (9.29 square meters), this one will be the largest ever
flown, spanning a whopping 409 square feet, or 38 square meters."

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/140207/nasa-to-demonstrate-largest-ever-solar-sail-in-space?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.gizmag.com/largest-solar-sail-to-be-demonstrated/19985/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| RIM Changes Stance On PlayBook's Android Support
| from the we-changed-our-mind dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Thursday September 29, @19:50 (Android)
| with 83 comments
| https://slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/2233210/rim-changes-stance-on-playbooks-android-support?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

hypnosec writes "It hasn't been long since the BlackBerry maker Research
In Motion announced that its QNX based tablet device, the PlayBook, will
be supporting Android implementation on it. However, it has been revealed
now that [0]a sizable portion of Android apps will be cut off from
running on the moderately successful tablet device. The news, thus leads
us to a situation where Android developers might not be interested
anymore in coming up with new apps for the QNX powered gadget. The
Android apps which won't be working in the QNX based tablet device
includes, Android Live Wallpapers; apps that contain more than one
activity tied to the launcher, the Android text-to-speech engine, Android
cloud-to-device messaging service amongst a few others."

Discuss this story at:
https://slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/2233210/rim-changes-stance-on-playbooks-android-support?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.itproportal.com/2011/09/29/rim-changes-stance-playbooks-android-support/#ixzz1ZM1HBzzv

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Mercury Turns Out To Be a Weird Little World
| from the it's-certainly-mercurial dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday September 29, @16:52 (NASA)
| with 67 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/203218/mercury-turns-out-to-be-a-weird-little-world?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]sighted writes "The robotic spacecraft MESSENGER, now orbiting the
first planet, has found [1]new findings odd features on its surface,
including unexplained, blueish 'hollows' that may be actively forming
today. The findings [2]will be published this week in Science. One
scientist said, 'The conventional wisdom was that Mercury is just like
the Moon. But from its vantage point in orbit, MESSENGER is showing us
that Mercury is radically different from the Moon in just about every way
we can measure.'" As you might expect, [3]National Geographic has
beautiful imagery to go along with the story.

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/203218/mercury-turns-out-to-be-a-weird-little-world?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.ridingwithrobots.org/
1. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-09/ci-mnl092911.php
2. http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/telecon7.html
3. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/09/110929-mercury-nasa-messenger-new-hollows-sulfur-space-science/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Put On Your 3D Glasses &mdash; Class Is About To Start
| from the smell-o-vision-also-very-valuable dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday September 29, @18:22 (Education)
| with 50 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/2115205/put-on-your-3d-glasses-class-is-about-to-start?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First time accepted submitter [0]sydneyhype writes "Seven schools across
Europe have been [1]testing the effectiveness of 3D learning tools —
specifically 3D projections of body organs in biology class. A study
found test results jumped up by 17%. Prof Bamford says, 'Children can see
how things function. Instead of learning about the heart statically they
can see it in a solid way, literally see blood passing through the
valves, see exchange of oxygen, rotate it, tilt it and zoom in.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/2115205/put-on-your-3d-glasses-class-is-about-to-start?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.sydneyhype.com.au/
1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15115059

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Patent Trolls In Biotechnology
| from the just-wait-'til-they-patent-mitosis dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday September 29, @15:18 (Biotech)
| with 44 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/194247/patent-trolls-in-biotechnology?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GNUman writes "A news story in this week's Nature Journal talks about
[0]patent trolls attacking biotech companies. They cite a case in which
the U.S. federal court of appeals upheld 'a patent that covered the idea
of trying to link infant vaccination with later immune disorders.' The
news story also references an interesting article from researchers at
Boston University School of Law [1](Bessen, James E. et al, 2011, 'The
Private and Social Costs of Patent Trolls'), in which they analyze the
effect of litigation on the wealth of the defendants via their stock's
value before and after litigation, and given that such loss minimally
translates into an increment in the wealth of the inventor, they
determine that patent litigation harms society and removes incentives for
innovation."

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/194247/patent-trolls-in-biotechnology?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110928/full/477521a.html
1. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1930272

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2011 Ig Nobel Prizes
| from the silly-science dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Thursday September 29, @19:05 (Idle)
| with 42 comments
| https://idle.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/2158259/2011-ig-nobel-prizes?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

alphadogg writes "The quirky [0]Ig Nobel prizes honoring some of the
world's funniest if not the most practical academic research will be
handed out tonight at 7:30 EST at Harvard University. The theme this year
is chemistry, but that doesn't really restrict which entries might win,
judging from research that has claimed Ig Nobels in the past. For
instance, last year the prize for medicine went to a Netherlands
researcher who discovered that riding roller coasters alleviates asthma
symptoms. The prize for engineering went to an international team 'for
perfecting a method to collect whale snot using a remote-control
helicopter.'" You can [1]read more about this year's nominees and watch
the live webcast here.

Discuss this story at:
https://idle.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/2158259/2011-ig-nobel-prizes?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/092811-ignobel-preview-251381.html?hpg1=bn
1. http://www.improbable.com/ig/2011/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Righthaven Loses In Colorado; Abused the Copyright Act
| from the shadenfreude-goes-great-with-fresh-powder dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday September 29, @11:58 (The Courts)
| with 39 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/1525241/righthaven-loses-in-colorado-abused-the-copyright-act?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First time accepted submitter [0]djl4570 writes "Federal Judge John Kane
ruled that Righthaven LLC of Las Vegas [1]lacked standing to file
copyright infringement lawsuits in Colorado under its lawsuit contract
with the Denver Post and abused the Copyright Act in doing so. Righthaven
was ordered to reimburse the defendant his costs including reasonable
attorneys fees."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/1525241/righthaven-loses-in-colorado-abused-the-copyright-act?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. mailto:djl4570@pobox.com
1. http://www.vegasinc.com/news/2011/sep/27/judge-righthaven-lacked-standing-abused-copyright-/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Panasonic To Unveil New Helper Robots
| from the with-the-help-of-unveiler-robots dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday September 29, @13:27 (Robotics)
| with 36 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/1718222/panasonic-to-unveil-new-helper-robots?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

cylonlover writes "With the aging of populations in many countries around
the world, particularly Japan, there are ever increasing numbers of
elderly to care for, but relatively fewer younger people to do the job.
Robots have long been seen as a means of filling the gap and Panasonic is
set to unveil its latest technology designed to do just that. The
[0]three robotic devices set to make their debut at the upcoming 38th
International Home Care & Rehabilitation Exhibition (H.C.R.2011) in Tokyo
include a communication assistance robot and new models of the company's
Hair-Washing Robot and RoboticBed."

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/09/29/1718222/panasonic-to-unveil-new-helper-robots?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.gizmag.com/panasonic-service-robots/19960/

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