Group items tagged

How to Create Another Mediawiki on the Same Server, Using the Same Source Code, Using the Same Database, but with its own Tables

new article about Japanese SPS plans ... in general all that is written is actually also true ....

A recently-published book by the Ubuntu Community Manager, Jono Bacon. I just started reading it: lots of information, experiences and revealing hints on how open-source communities are born and evolve today.

"Since I released The Art of Community, one thing has become evident: the people who are buying it are awesome. If you have bought it you are awesome. If you have not, you too can be awesome." To me seems more interesting the topic than the author. I have the impression that many people in this community behave like high-school pupils, though their production it's absolutely "awesome".

Awesome!

Albeit a bit dated, this is the classical Eric Raymond paper about the self-organizing open source model (the bazaar) compared to the usual closed software development model (the cathedral). Is science today more a bazaar or a cathedral?

funny .... this is exactly the book that Franco mentioned during one of the first meetings I had with him on the ACT, our research, how to organise, the potential of new ways of cooperating etc ...

Science today is a Basilica.

if you view the source code there's also an RSS feed

well, it seems we'll never be able to see the yes...!

so ooooooooooooold!!!!

an open-source real time kinematic GPS receiver, allowing way better accuracy

nice tool ... but apparently not open source :-(

already posted further down the page

In a surprise announcement earlier today (July 13), the European Southern Observatory said that monster black holes - those giants of millions or billions of solar masses, thought to lurk at the hearts of most galaxies - have a mechanism to become active other than galaxy collisions.

"A new study combining data from ESO's Very Large Telescope and ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray space observatory has turned up a surprise. Most of the huge black holes in the centers of galaxies in the past 11 billion years were not turned on by mergers between galaxies, as had been previously thought." and "The process that activates a sleeping black hole - turning its galaxy from quiet to active - has been a mystery in astronomy. What triggers the violent outbursts at a galaxy's center, which then becomes an active galactic nucleus? Up to now, many astronomers thought that most of these active nuclei were turned on when two galaxies merged, or when they passed close to each other and the disrupted material became fuel for the central black hole. Results of the new study indicate this idea may be wrong for many active galaxies." very interesting indeed

'Whether mysterious high-energy photon emissions from our Galaxy come from dark matter or a more mundane source might be resolved by detecting their Doppler shifts along different lines-of-sight.'

very nice! "For a start, the wires operate well as switches that by some measures compare well to field effect transistors. For example they allow a million times more current to flow when they are on compared with off when operating at a voltage of about 1.5 V. "[A light effect transistor] can replicate the basic switching function of the modern field effect transistor with competitive (and potentially improved) characteristics," say Marmon and co. But they wires also have entirely new capabilities. The device works as an optical amplifier and can also perform basic logic operations by using two or more laser beams rather than one. That's something a single field effect transistor cannot do."

any idea how the shine the light selectively to such small surfaces?

"Illumination sources consisted of halogen light, 532.016, 441.6, and 325 nm lasers ported through a Horiba LabRAM HR800 confocal Raman system with an internal 632.8 nm laser. Due to limited probe spacing for electrical measurements, all illumination sources were focused through a 50x long working distance (LWD) objective lens (N.A. = 0.50), except 325 nm, which went through a 10x MPLAN objective lens (N.A. = 0.25)." Laser spot size calculated from optical diffraction formula 1.22*lambda/NA

The ice-cube observatory in Antarctica reveals the source of high energy cosmic neutrinos. Spoiler: its Blazars!

Hate spoliers!

Einstein's theory of gravity, General Relativity (GR), has been tested precisely within the Solar System. However, it has been difficult to test GR on the scale of an individual galaxy. Collett et al. exploited a nearby gravitational lens system, in which light from a distant galaxy (the source) is bent by a foreground galaxy (the lens). Mass distribution in the lens was compared with the curvature of space-time around the lens, independently determined from the distorted image of the source. The result supports GR and eliminates some alternative theories of gravity.

Scientists have created bacteria covered in tiny semiconductors that generate a potential fuel source from sunlight, carbon dioxide and water

once more ... the Romans did it already 2000 years ago! this time: burning so much wood that they increased the methane level in a way we can still measure it in ice cores ...

Doesn't really sound sexy, but this is of utmost importance for next generation grids for renewable energy.

I agree on the significance indeed - a small boost also for my favourite Desertec project ... Though their language is a bit too "grandiose": "ABB has successfully designed and developed a hybrid DC breaker after years of research, functional testing and simulation in the R&D laboratories. This breaker is a breakthrough that solves a technical challenge that has been unresolved for over a hundred years and was perhaps one the main influencers in the 'war of currents' outcome. The 'hybrid' breaker combines mechanical and power electronics switching that enables it to interrupt power flows equivalent to the output of a nuclear power station within 5 milliseconds - that's as fast as a honey bee takes per flap of its wing - and more than 30 times faster than the reaction time of an Olympic 100-meter medalist to react to the starter's gun! But its not just about speed. The challenge was to do it 'ultra-fast' with minimal operational losses and this has been achieved by combining advanced ultrafast mechanical actuators with our inhouse semiconductor IGBT valve technologies or power electronics (watch video: Hybrid HVDC Breaker - How does it work). In terms of significance, this breaker is a 'game changer'. It removes a significant stumbling block in the development of HVDC transmission grids where planning can start now. These grids will enable interconnection and load balancing between HVDC power superhighways integrating renewables and transporting bulk power across long distances with minimal losses. DC grids will enable sharing of resources like lines and converter stations that provides reliability and redundancy in a power network in an economically viable manner with minimal losses. ABB's new Hybrid HVDC breaker, in simple terms will enable the transmission system to maintain power flow even if there is a fault on one of the lines. This is a major achievement for the global R&D team in ABB who have worked for years on the challeng

source of inspiration for visualization of complex networks

NASA has tested a prototype of a new design for a small uranium reactor as a power source for deep space exploration. In principle this should pose a smaller radiation danger during launch and more energy per mass compared to RTGs.

By focusing our defense resources into a space-superiority platform and weapon system such as a Death Star, the government can spur job creation in the fields of construction, engineering, space exploration, and more, and strengthen our national defense.

Bad news from this frontier: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/response/isnt-petition-response-youre-looking As the Americans are not going for it, it might be a good opportunity for Europeans to make a real difference in space.

Merkel seems anyway a bit short of ideas ...

Another great piece from "Ten Simple Rules" series by PLOSCB