Posts by mosw

What would happen if Earth fell into a black hole?

"we might better first discuss the black hole's motivation in doing so."

Don't panic, it is clearly just to make way for a hyperspace bypass. I'm sure they will send us notice before doing so.

A glass of soda-and-lime is the straight dope for graphene

What makes it graphene is the 2 dimensional nature of the bonding. You can have multiple layers of graphene so long as the carbon in each layer only bonds to other carbon atoms in the same layer. Once formed I assume graphene is stable at room temperature so you should be able to lay it down in layers without it turning into graphite.

Earthquake-sensing smartphone app fires off early alerts of disaster

Re: Sub-optimal

"The people at the epicenter will get no early warning from the app, but they need it the most!"

Yes but if more people/equipment surrounding the epicenter survive in good shape then help will arrive at the epicenter sooner.

They could make it only run when it is plugged in and charging.

That would also reduce the number of other events that might cause the shaking. After all the app only needs a few phones plugged in in a given area to be effective.

Boffins' gravitational wave detection hat trick blows open astronomy

Re: What's Actually Wrong The explanation of interference is slightly wrong in the article...

"blows open astronomy".

It "blows open astronomy" because it demonstrates a completely new way of observing the universe.

London seeks trials of Google's robo-cars

Re: fire all the meatsack drivers

"Then you have the rather unpredictable nature of the roads. Potholes, obstacles in the road, emergency service vehicles etc. etc."

Most of that is very predictable. The first vehicle to encounter an obstacle/pothole will add it to the traffic database. All other vehicles can automatically maneuver or route around it. Pothole locations will be noted and vehicles will slow down before encountering them.

Mall owner lays blame at Apple's door for dragging down sales

Re: Mall landlords DO know tenant stores' sales

Malls are more concerned about the foot traffic as higher foot traffic usually = higher overall sales and rents. Anchor stores generate a lot of foot traffic so they get a better deal then the smaller retailers. Apple is likely treated as an anchor store so the malls are relying on them to generate overall foot traffic. My guess is that Apple stores are not drawing the same turnout as they used even if overall sales remain strong.

Back to the Future's DeLorean is coming back to the future

Re: A couple points ...

'It just needed to get up to "88". Which it could. Barely.'

Acceleration as tested: 0- 88 mph in 26 years.

Pentagon fastens lasers to military drones to zap missiles out of the skies

Re: Isn't there a standard defence against lasers?

Even with a perfect mirror there is a down side. The mirror would allow targeting systems to lock on from a greater distance, giving more conventional anti-missile systems a better chance of hitting it.

Physics uses warp theory to look beyond relativity

Re: FTL is possible (but unprovable)

"He also said, and was proven to be correct, that gravity bends space and time, so you just need an intense directed gravitational field to bend space, et voila, no need to travel at c."

Even if you could control the massive amounts of mass and energy needed to bend space you could not distort space without distorting time. So when you transported yourself across the galaxy you will likely find yourself in the distant future with no way back to the preset time. Anything else would violate causality creating a unstable universe - at least to human perception.

SpaceX starts nine-day countdown to first flight of the new Falcon

Re: Matchless 500 single?

"As for why they use engines to slow down and not parachutes"

I suspect that parachutes would not allow the precision they need. At sea the landing target is very small. Their ultimate objective is to have it and back at the launch site where it can be refueled and reused with the minimum amount of processing or transportation.

Samsung Gear VR is good. So good 2016 could be year virtual reality finally makes it

Re: Electric Chairs, Anyone?

"A motorised chair won't help you with walking or running."

The motorized chair could still simulate some the movements your head experiences while walking. It would just feel like a piggy back ride.

Damn, now I am thinking about bacon again!

Taxi for NASA! SpaceX to fly astronauts to space station

Re: Why not ask for an Uber?

You just need a credit card with a 30 million dollar credit limit if you want to book a ride to the ISS.

Re: ah, come on !

"being unable to open a window to deal with her gaseous emissions would seriously impact my awe of the whole event."

That's what the in-flight abort system is for!

Uncle Sam's IT bods find 2,000 data centers they FORGOT about

Re: Down the back of the couch, under the seat cushions, where else?

"If you've got the power, flaunt it."

I think that is the motto of the NSA.

Google extends search tendrils to cover data in apps

Re: Coming soon... sewage inspection by Google

You mean like Smartpipe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJklHwoYgBQ

Microsoft capitulates, announces German data centres

Re: Or,rather

I prefer this version featuring Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, a Sun workstation and a VW.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtrmeorJdfc

Made you jump! Space to give Earth an asteroid Halloween scare

Re: Warning shot...

'I wonder where the "service station" will be on the hyperspace bypass?'

Not sure where it will be but pretty sure Elon Musk has already locked up the contract to build it.

US eco watchdog's shock warning: Fresh engine pollution cheatware tests coming

Re: LINPACK

"Have some fun looking at how storage manufacturers love to not use exactly the right math on drive size too. Nothing new there."

Yes but imagine if the available capacity of the drive was 40 times less than advertised. I think VW went way beyond the number fudging that we know happens in most product testing.

Privacy, net neutrality, security, encryption ... Europe tells Obama, US Congress to back off

Re: And suddenly ..

Last thing I read on this Microsoft had asked the court to find them in contempt immediately so they could move on to the next step which is either an appeal process or a higher court (can't remember which). So it looks to me that Microsoft want this ruled in the highest court possible to get a precedent set.

Astro-boffins plan 3D plot of the universe

Re: Cool - A 3D model of the Universe.

7 days. Or was that 6 with the 7th reserved for beer? I have the manual around here somewhere.

Testing times as NASA rattles Mississippi with mighty motor burn

Re: new technology...

"If a civilisation that cannot reach orbit, the absence of communication satellites might affect the nature of ERM that they emit."

Without satellites they could end up relying on higher power ground based radio and therefore be easier to detect.

Giant Facebook SOLAR LASER DRONE to FEED interwebs into YOUR FACE

Re: I so torn

Also, even if the lasers are powerful enough to blind someone, you would have to be located at the ground station to be hit by the beam on the ground. Probably standing on that dime they talk about.

Re: I so torn

I would assume the drone to drone communication would serve as a backup for the drone to ground optical link. At that altitude the radio links to the end users should work fine through clouds.

COSMIC FATTY from the DAWN of TIME simply can't exist – astroboffins

Re: Checks Bible, looks up Genesis...

"Maybe that's where the unicorns are hiding..."

Or at least the anti-matter.

Critical 0-days in open source? The problem isn't code, it's CASH

Re: Free

"it had fewer publically known vulnerabilities"

You can take actions to mitigate the threat of the publicly known vulnerabilities. It is the unknown vulnerabilities that are the biggest threat.

Apple Watch 'didn't work on HAIRY FANBOIS, was stripped of sensor tech'

Re: On the outside?

" What were some of you DOING in English lessons…?!"

Fantasizing about nurse's ...

Elon Musk: Wanna see a multimillion-dollar rocket EXPLODE? WATCH THIS

Re: Quite a few incorrect posts above and bad facts in article

If they can throttle the individual engines back to 70% then going from 9 engines at 100% to one engine at 70% allows them reduce the overall thrust to 7.8%. Better then the LEM.

Bad luck, n00bs: Mozilla to splurge ADS inside empty Firefox tiles

Re: shirley

AdBlock should be one of those tiles.

Google to banish mobe-makers using old Androids: report

Re: "Fragmentation is a myth"

@Peter Gathercole. Your old devices with an old version should still have access to the Play store. It is just new devices shipped with out of date versions that would be blocked. So this should not effect existing devices and owners just those that buy new devices with old versions.

I found an asteroid! yells revived probe NEOWISE. Boffins nod politely

Re: What am I missing

"I thought space was extremely cold when not in direct sunlight?"

Although technically very cold the vacuum of space also makes it a very good thermal insulator. So anything that generates its own heat - like electronic hardware - has a very hard time shedding that heat and so can get very hot.

Boffins claim battery BREAKTHROUGH – with rhubarb-like molecule

Wow. It suddenly feels very crowded in here.

Facebook to acquire Instagram for $1bn

Re: All your sign-ons will belong to us!

It is not uncommon to pay $1 per visit for well targeted web traffic through Google ads. With facebook's 2011 revenue supposed to be nearly 4 Billion dollars and assuming 500 million active fb users that is $8 per year per user. It is not unreasonable to pay $80 for an $8 per year return. I also assume that they see Instagram as being on a rapid growth curve.

All your sign-ons will belong to us!

Facebook wants signed in users not dollars. I think the objective will be to force users of this service to be signed into facebook, even when using it with another social network. The more users signed into facebook the better facebook can track your browsing activity, the more facebook can earn from your data.

'Thermal cloak' designed, could solve major chip, spacecraft issues

Re: Thermodynamics - fridge

A fridge does not violate the 2nd law because a fridge is not a closed system. The fridge exchanges energy and heat with the surrounding environment. The reduction in entropy inside the fridge comes at a cost of an even greater increase in entropy in it's surrounding environment.

NASA's Kepler telescope finds 5 new planets

Styrofoam planet = Dyson sphere?

Maybe the planet density is so low because it is hollow. Not really a Dyson sphere but not sure what to call it. So given the outside temperature how cool could the inside be kept?