October 2009
Video of laser weapon fired from airplane →
The Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) is a directed energy weapon (aka ray gun) developed by Boeing under a US military contract. According to an overview document (PDF) about Boeing’s Directed…
Fossil Primate Ardipithecus Ramidus Described... →
Omomyid writes “I wasn’t actually aware that Dr. Tim White of UC Berkeley had been ‘sitting’ on A. ramidus but apparently he has (I remember the original flurry of interest back in the ’90s when it…
David Letterman Reveals Extortion Attempt →
Mr. Letterman said on his show that a person demanded $2 million not to reveal his sexual affairs with staff members.
Lawmakers Cave to FBI in Patriot Act Debate →
Senate lawmakers are caving to FBI concerns that proposals to add privacy protections into the Patriot Act could harm national security. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), chairman of the Senate…
Mysterious wind damages church bazaar's booths →
A bizarre weather phenomenon visited before the bazaar. In what one parish member described as a “twister,” a whirlwind damaged about 10 booths being set up yesterday for a weekend bazaar at Mater…
2009 Ig Nobels Awarded, For Gas-Mask Bras and More →
alphadogg notes that the 2009 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded yesterday evening in Cambridge, MA. (You may find that site has been pre-Slashdotted; and improbable.com’s video feeds of the ceremony don’t…
Herschel Releases First Images of Milky Way →
davecl writes “The Herschel space observatory has just released stunning five-color images of a section of our own galaxy, showing the complex twisted structures of the interstellar medium that drive…
Video of laser weapon fired from airplane →
The Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) is a directed energy weapon (aka ray gun) developed by Boeing under a US military contract. According to an overview document (PDF) about Boeing’s Directed…
Ben Heck's PS3 Slim Laptop →
We’ve occasionally discussed Ben Heckendorn’s various console modifications, and he’s now come out with a new one: a laptop version of the PS3 Slim. It has volume control buttons for the built-in…
Google Pulls Pirate Bay From Search Results →
The homepage of Pirate Bay disappeared from Google’s search results Friday, after Google allegedly received a DMCA takedown notice targeting the site. But the copyright policing firm blamed for the…
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Crime & Federalism: Eighth Circuit Court of... →
Three Six Mafia Alice in Wonderland - Smokin on... →
Sesame Street: Mad Men / Magma →
One arrested in Ocean Beach bongo assault →
A 35-year-old man was arrested in Ocean Beach early Thursday after police said he hit a woman on the head with a bongo drum.
Fossil Skeleton From Africa Predates Lucy →
Scientists said Ardi, short for Ardipithecus ramidus, was the earliest known skeleton from the human branch of the primate family tree.
Exoplanet Has Showers of Pebbles →
mmmscience writes “The newly-discovered exoplanet COROT-7b has an unusual form of precipitation: rocks. Because it orbits so close to its sun, the temperature on its sun-facing side is around 4220…
GE Developing 1Tb Hologram Disc Readable By a... →
Globally Mobile writes “The Register has this article concerning GE announcement that it has been developing a 1 terabyte DVD-size disk that can be read by a modified Blu-ray player. Peter Lorraine,…
Jack Thompson Sues Facebook For $40M →
angry tapir writes “Jack Thompson has sued Facebook for US$40 million, saying that the social networking site harmed him by not removing angry postings made by Facebook gamers. The lawsuit was filed…
New Bill Proposes Open Source Requirement for... →
fsufitch writes “On September 30th, the ‘Open College Textbook Act of 2009’ was introduced to the Senate and referred to committee. The bill proposes that all educational materials published or…
Cabel Sasser and the Kashiwa Mystery Cafe →
cafe as collaborative art