Archive for the ‘Science and Technology’ Category
It’s a small hole, but Cthulu is a resourceful guy
We are all doomed. Quoting an unnamed source, a Russian newswire is claiming that scientists have successfully drilled into an Antarctic lake that has been sealed off from the world for some 15 million years. The Russians, who clearly do not watch American movies, had to drill through almost two and a half miles of [...]
February 6, 2012
· 
Tim F. · 
62 Comments
Posted in: Science and Technology
Whuh
In order to take over the world, all these UPenn nanorobotcopters have to do is keep you mesmerized with their cool flying while another robot walks up behind and stabs you. Via io9. Then again, if the UPenn guys ever look up Neural Robotics Inc. we are well and truly hosed.
February 1, 2012
· Tim F. · 51 Comments
Posted in: Science and Technology
Program Notes: Alan Lightman and Me Edition
A bit more self-aggrandizement, for which I apologize, but I thought (hoped) y’all might want to know about the conversation I’m going to have with Alan Lightman this afternoon. It will be on the occasion of the publication (yesterday!) of Alan’s latest book, Mr. g: A Novel About The Creation. This is my monthly Virtually [...]
January 25, 2012
· Tom Levenson · 13 Comments
Posted in: Books, KULCHA!, Science and Technology, Uncategorized
White House to Chris Dodd and the MPAA- “Eat a Bag of Salted Dicks”
It looks like Chris Dodd, who yesterday was launching threats at the President, may have overstepped his bounds just a tad: The White House appeared to brush back a suggestion from the Motion Picture Association of America on Friday that the president step in on negotiations over controversial online piracy legislation. MPAA Chairman and former [...]
January 20, 2012
· John Cole · 116 Comments
Posted in: Assholes, Science and Technology
Temporary Victory on SOPA/PIPA
This is some good news: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called off a vote on controversial anti-piracy legislation Friday — the surest sign yet that a wave of online protests have killed SOPA and PIPA for now and maybe forever. Reid canceled the procedural vote on PIPA scheduled for Tuesday. Meanwhile, in the House, Judiciary [...]
January 20, 2012
· John Cole · 215 Comments
Posted in: Democratic Stupidity, Don't Mourn, Organize, Science and Technology
The BlackOut
I have to say, I think the blackout is a great idea, and we would be participating but for the fact that I have no idea how to remove everything, and on top of it all, I’m not sure that if I did get everything blacked out, I’d be able to get it back up [...]
January 18, 2012
· John Cole · 79 Comments
Posted in: Don't Mourn, Organize, Science and Technology
The Uses of the Past: Science/Science Writing Talk
Blogger’s note: The annual Science Online conference/unconference is going live this Thursday in scenic Research Triangle, NC. I’ve been going since the second meeting, way back in 2008 (I think…), and this year I will be moderating a couple of sessions. One of them is called “The Uses of the Past,” jointly led (or unled) [...]
January 17, 2012
· Tom Levenson · 40 Comments
Posted in: Books, KULCHA!, Science and Technology
Paint it Black
Wikipedia is shutting down all English language sites starting tomorrow at midnight DC time to protest SOPA and PIPA, the Senate version of the SOPA act. Though SOPA has been withdrawn, PIPA could still get a floor vote in the Senate on the 24th. And even though the DNS blacklist provision has been removed from [...]
January 17, 2012
· mistermix ... World Peace · 32 Comments
Posted in: Science and Technology
Don’t believe the hope
A vaccine could help fight 90 percent of known cancers? Crazy talk. Everyone knows that vaccines cause psoriasis, phlegmatic imbalance and wanton thoughts. The notion that a vaccine could possibly reach one of the holy grails of modern biology would vindicate an idea that has circulated for years is just what they want you to [...]
January 16, 2012
· Tim F. · 53 Comments
Posted in: Science and Technology
Open Thread: SOPA / PIPA
According to The Hill, “Controversial online piracy bill shelved until ‘consensus’ is found“: House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said early Saturday morning that Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) promised him the House will not vote on the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) unless there is consensus on the bill. “While I remain concerned [...]
January 15, 2012
· Anne Laurie · 82 Comments
Posted in: Assholes, Open Thread, Republican Venality, Science and Technology
Google Minus
Google has one mission in the world: to put a relevant, compelling ad in front of its users. Search, mail, Android and every other Google activity is somehow related to this goal. The average Google user has one mission when using Google: to get the best search results on the Internet. Until a few days [...]
January 12, 2012
· mistermix ... World Peace · 83 Comments
Posted in: Science and Technology
The Future of Boycotts
This is a screenshot from the Boycott SOPA Android app that lets you scan the barcode of a product to determine whether the manufacturer supports the Stop Online Piracy Act, which is an awful bill for a number of reasons detailed here, and therefore will be passed with a bipartisan majority despite a threatened blackout [...]
January 9, 2012
· mistermix ... World Peace · 90 Comments
Posted in: Science and Technology
Open thread – With vilest worms to dwell
It’s about time we had an Open Thread… Despite the title, this is not the story of the three months I had to share a toiletless bedsit with Mitt Romney in Paris in the late sixties. I know you would thrill to the tales of the adversity we suffered – like the time the Bollinger [...]
December 22, 2011
· Sarah Proud and Tall · 35 Comments
Posted in: Fucked-up-edness, Open Thread, Science and Technology, Sweet Fancy Moses!, Travel
Revenge of the Nerds
Most excellent news: Software developers have already found a way around the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), which the House Judiciary Committee will not markup until sometime early next year. Most critics say the bill would create an Internet “blacklist” that forces ISPs, search engines, financial firms and advertisers to de-list websites accused of [...]
December 21, 2011
· John Cole · 60 Comments
Posted in: Science and Technology
Net Neutrality
Louis CK: “O.K., so NBC is this huge company and they have all these studios and these satellites to beam stuff out,” he said, “but on the Web, both NBC.com and LouisCK.com have the same amount of bandwidth. We are equals and there are things you can do with that.” [...] If you want to understand why we need [...]
December 20, 2011
· mistermix ... World Peace · 20 Comments
Posted in: Media, Science and Technology
