Canberra, Australia (TNR) - In a crushing defeat for the international copyright lobby, the Australian Federal Court ruled today that Internet service providers are not obligated to punish customers or turn over their identities because of allegations of copyright infringement.
In his 200 page decision, Justice Dennis Cowdroy, OAM, completely denied the plaintiffs' claim that simply providing Internet access to an alleged copyright infringer is the same as authorizing copyright infringement under Australian law, on the basis that it is the BitTorrent system, and not the ISP, that enables copyright infringement, the ISP does not control BitTorrent, and that torrents may be used for legitimate purposes, making a blanket block improper.
Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts
Friday, February 5, 2010
Monday, April 20, 2009
BREAKING: Stephen Hawking hospitalized
Monday, April 20, 2009
London, England (TNR) - Renowned professor and physicist Stephen Hawking has been rushed to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge after fighting a chest infection for several weeks, The Nerd Report has learned. The 67 year old scientist is known mainly for his work on theoretical astronomy, including research into black holes and quantum gravity, which seeks to bridge the theories of general relativity and quantum physics in a thus far elusive unified theory.
Professor Hawking was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease, properly known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, at age 21, which has caused his motor functions to atrophy. He now communicates through a voice synthesizer activated by his fingertips, since he is almost entirely paralyzed and can no longer speak. Dr. Hawking is one of the few patients of ALS to live more than a decade after his diagnosis. Whether this condition is exacerbating his infection is unknown to TNR as of this writing.
Dr. Hawking is the author of A Brief History of Time and The Universe in a Nutshell, the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University (a post he has already announced his retirement from, effective September, 2009), and is best known for describing singularities in the context of general relativity and theorizing that black holes should emit radiation, now known as Hawking radiation in his honor.
Editorial note: We here at TNR wish Dr. Hawking the best of luck. Science can scarce afford to lose him now.
Update: Professor Hawking is now expected to make a full recovery.
London, England (TNR) - Renowned professor and physicist Stephen Hawking has been rushed to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge after fighting a chest infection for several weeks, The Nerd Report has learned. The 67 year old scientist is known mainly for his work on theoretical astronomy, including research into black holes and quantum gravity, which seeks to bridge the theories of general relativity and quantum physics in a thus far elusive unified theory.
Professor Hawking was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease, properly known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, at age 21, which has caused his motor functions to atrophy. He now communicates through a voice synthesizer activated by his fingertips, since he is almost entirely paralyzed and can no longer speak. Dr. Hawking is one of the few patients of ALS to live more than a decade after his diagnosis. Whether this condition is exacerbating his infection is unknown to TNR as of this writing.
Dr. Hawking is the author of A Brief History of Time and The Universe in a Nutshell, the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University (a post he has already announced his retirement from, effective September, 2009), and is best known for describing singularities in the context of general relativity and theorizing that black holes should emit radiation, now known as Hawking radiation in his honor.
Editorial note: We here at TNR wish Dr. Hawking the best of luck. Science can scarce afford to lose him now.
Update: Professor Hawking is now expected to make a full recovery.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Large Hadron Collider tested; Earth not destroyed
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Geneva, Switzerland (TNR) - At 7:35:05 UTC this morning, the Large Hadron Collider was tested, sending photons in a complete circuit of the 17 mile (27 km) long particle accelerator for the first time. The test was without incident, and contrary to some predictions, Earth was not consumed by a black hole created by the LHC, which in fact created no black holes at all.
The test this morning sent photons in one direction around the circuit. The next test will send photons the other way around the accelerator before the first collision test next month. Widespread fears that the accelerator experiment would destroy the planet, fed by a theory by physicist Stephen Hawking that the collision experiment may create miniature black holes, have led to lawsuits in European courts to stop the planned experiments. The resulting hysteria has prompted the satirical Earth Advisory Board to report Earth's destruction by the initial test, while at least two other websites have been created with the sole purpose of answering "No" to the question of whether the planet has yet been destroyed by the collider.
The initial test this morning was not expected to produce black holes in any event, since it was not a collision test. If the first collision test in the coming weeks does produce a miniature black hole, however, it will not have enough mass to either sustain itself or destroy the planet; Hawking's theory that the experiment would create miniature black holes also states that they would dissipate nearly instantaneously by emitting Hawking radiation before they could draw in more matter.
German chemist Otto Rossler has voiced concerns that this may not occur, and that a black hole may grow and consume the planet, but Professor Hawking and other leading physicists dismiss these concerns, with Hawking observing in an essay written to Newsweek that "The LHC is feeble compared with what goes on in the universe. If a disaster was going to happen, it would have happened already."
Geneva, Switzerland (TNR) - At 7:35:05 UTC this morning, the Large Hadron Collider was tested, sending photons in a complete circuit of the 17 mile (27 km) long particle accelerator for the first time. The test was without incident, and contrary to some predictions, Earth was not consumed by a black hole created by the LHC, which in fact created no black holes at all.
The test this morning sent photons in one direction around the circuit. The next test will send photons the other way around the accelerator before the first collision test next month. Widespread fears that the accelerator experiment would destroy the planet, fed by a theory by physicist Stephen Hawking that the collision experiment may create miniature black holes, have led to lawsuits in European courts to stop the planned experiments. The resulting hysteria has prompted the satirical Earth Advisory Board to report Earth's destruction by the initial test, while at least two other websites have been created with the sole purpose of answering "No" to the question of whether the planet has yet been destroyed by the collider.
The initial test this morning was not expected to produce black holes in any event, since it was not a collision test. If the first collision test in the coming weeks does produce a miniature black hole, however, it will not have enough mass to either sustain itself or destroy the planet; Hawking's theory that the experiment would create miniature black holes also states that they would dissipate nearly instantaneously by emitting Hawking radiation before they could draw in more matter.
German chemist Otto Rossler has voiced concerns that this may not occur, and that a black hole may grow and consume the planet, but Professor Hawking and other leading physicists dismiss these concerns, with Hawking observing in an essay written to Newsweek that "The LHC is feeble compared with what goes on in the universe. If a disaster was going to happen, it would have happened already."
Monday, June 16, 2008
Genetically modified "bugs" eat waste, excrete petroleum
Monday, June 16, 2008
Silicon Valley (TNR) - LS9, a Silicon Valley-based firm, has managed to bioengineer microorganisms that eat organic waste material and excrete crude oil.
By genetically modifying yeast or E. Coli bacteria, the company's engineers have created strains that consume organic waste material, such as wood chips or wheat stalks, and produce crude oil as their waste.
The company claims that the process is carbon-negative, meaning that, plant to the exhaust pipe of your car, the plants and bugs that eat them take more carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere than the refining process and the exhaust of the vehicle the fuel is ultimately burned in put into it.
The company is still in the testing stages, but the technology shows promise. LS9 hopes to have a demonstration plant open by 2010. Replacing the United States' entire weekly fuel consumption would require a facility covering over 200 square miles, and it remains to be seen how economically viable this is in the long term, though the company estimates that the oil they produce could be manufactured at a cost of around $50USD per barrel.
Silicon Valley (TNR) - LS9, a Silicon Valley-based firm, has managed to bioengineer microorganisms that eat organic waste material and excrete crude oil.
By genetically modifying yeast or E. Coli bacteria, the company's engineers have created strains that consume organic waste material, such as wood chips or wheat stalks, and produce crude oil as their waste.
The company claims that the process is carbon-negative, meaning that, plant to the exhaust pipe of your car, the plants and bugs that eat them take more carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere than the refining process and the exhaust of the vehicle the fuel is ultimately burned in put into it.
The company is still in the testing stages, but the technology shows promise. LS9 hopes to have a demonstration plant open by 2010. Replacing the United States' entire weekly fuel consumption would require a facility covering over 200 square miles, and it remains to be seen how economically viable this is in the long term, though the company estimates that the oil they produce could be manufactured at a cost of around $50USD per barrel.
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