USA vidgar syn på våldtäkt SvD Utrikes(cached at January 6, 2012, 11:31 pm)

USA breddar sin definition av våldtäkt till att gälla våldtäkt mot män, genom penetrering med föremål samt tillfällen då samtycke inte kan ges på grund av tillfällig eller permanent mental eller fysisk oförmåga hos offret.
Ask Slashdot: What's the Best Way To Deal With Roving TSA Teams? Slashdotby Soulskill on government at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at January 6, 2012, 11:31 pm)


An anonymous reader writes "I live in Boston, and I have noticed the TSA performs random security checks at the Copley T (subway station) and other locations. I routinely travel with a laptop, iPhone, and other gadgetry. What are my rights when asked by one of the TSA agents to 'come over here'? Can I say no and proceed with my private business? What if a police officer says that I 'must go over there and cooperate'? Can I decline or ask for a warrant? Like the majority of the population, I turn into an absolute shrinking violet when pressured by intimidating authority, but I struggle with what I see to be blatant social devolution. Has anybody out there actually responded rationally, without complying? What were your experiences?"

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Ants Turned Into 'Supersoldiers' Slashdotby Soulskill on science at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at January 6, 2012, 11:31 pm)


New submitter jmcdougald.esq sends word that a team of researchers from McGill University has tinkered with the development of a type of ant to produce what they call a 'supersoldier' subcaste — ants that are much larger than average workers but only appear naturally in a few species (abstract). The team's work showed that by exposing the ant larvae to a hormone-like chemical, they could induce 'supersoldier' growth in many more species. "This result suggests that supersoldiers existed in the common ancestor of the entire genus. Even though the supersoldier subcaste eventually disappeared in most species, the ants kept the potential to make it. Because the same hormone sets the fate of both supersoldiers and soldiers, it may not have been possible to completely lose one without compromising the other. ... In some species that evolved later, such as Pheidole obtusospinosa, the supersoldiers became a permanent addition. Whereas most Pheidole species simply evacuate their nests when army ants invade, for some reason P. obtusospinosa find it beneficial to stay, which makes supersoldiers a useful addition to the community."

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Misstänkt mord i Östersund SvD Inrikes(cached at January 6, 2012, 11:01 pm)

En man hittades i dag död i centrala Östersund.
Negative Irreproducible Tweets For Science Publishing Slashdotby Soulskill on communications at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at January 6, 2012, 11:00 pm)


New submitter mwolfam writes "Every scientist has at least one paper or graph tucked in a folder that lies in a dusty corner of the hard drive next to that dancing baby that used to be all the rage. The data is interesting, but doesn't lend itself to the creation of the grand narrative you must have for a traditional publication. It's time to expand traditional scientific publication to include a place for the data that normally falls through the cracks: short but interesting bits of data, negative results, and irreproducible results."

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US navy frees Iranians held by pirates AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)(cached at January 6, 2012, 11:00 pm)

Rescue of 13 sailors held hostage by Somali pirates in Arabian Sea comes amid rising tension between Iran and US.
”40-talisterna bara super och golfar” SvD Inrikes(cached at January 6, 2012, 10:31 pm)

Jourhavande medmänniska om få deltagare.
SVG-Graph-0.03 search.cpan.orgby Christopher Fields at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at January 6, 2012, 10:30 pm)

Visualize your data in Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format.
MetaCPAN-API-0.40 search.cpan.orgby Sawyer X at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at January 6, 2012, 10:30 pm)

A comprehensive, DWIM-featured API to MetaCPAN
11 dog i olycka med luftballong SvD Utrikes(cached at January 6, 2012, 10:01 pm)

Alla ombord omkom när luftballong störtade till marken i Nya Zeeland.
Malmö halverade stöd till brottsförebyggning SvD Inrikes(cached at January 6, 2012, 10:01 pm)

Ett stödboende för kriminella i Malmö stängs.
Solo Explorer Begins Bicycle Journey To South Pole Slashdotby Soulskill on transportation at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at January 6, 2012, 10:01 pm)


Hugh Pickens writes "Helen Skelton, the first person to solo kayak the length of the Amazon, has set for herself another difficult task — to travel up to 14 hours a day battling 80mph winds and -50C temperatures 800km across Antarctica in an attempt to reach the South Pole by bicycle. It's no average ride, and Skelton, 28, is not using your average bike. Her specially-built Hanebrink 'ice bike' took designers in Los Angeles three months to finish. It features a seamless frame made of aluminium aircraft tubing, heat-treated to withstand harsh environments, and fat, tubeless, rubber tires designed to bulge over the rim to provide maximum stability and traction. The bike is designed to be as minimalist as possible, to make it aerodynamic and very low maintenance. 'The bike is designed specifically to cycle in soft snow or sand,' says polar guide Doug Stoup. 'We trained together in the desert this past summer. It helps because the temperatures are so cold the snow has little moisture and has a sand-like consistency.' Explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes commends Skelton for taking on 'incredibly tough and grueling challenge.' 'Like Captain Scott, Helen is attempting something that has never been tried before and I applaud her pioneering efforts.'"

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Drones Within a Drone Riding a Balloon Slashdotby Soulskill on military at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at January 6, 2012, 9:30 pm)


smitty777 writes "Given the U.S.'s recent drone issues, what is the new recipe for sending a drone over another country of interest? Simple, just take a balloon and attach a Tempest drone to the bottom of it. Now, attach two more CICADA drones to that. The balloon climbs to over 55k feet, then drops the first drone, which can travel another 11 miles or so. It then deploys the CICADA drones. These unpowered gliders slip past radar undetected and start sending back information. There are future plans to mount many (count hundreds) of the CICADA glider drones to the Tempest in the future. The article quotes the flight engineer describing the process as 'straightforward.'"

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Canadian Gov't Considers Plan To Block Public Domain Slashdotby Soulskill on canada at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at January 6, 2012, 9:30 pm)


An anonymous reader writes "Canada celebrated New Year's Day this year by welcoming the likes of Ernest Hemingway and Carl Jung into the public domain just as European countries were celebrating the arrival of James Joyce and Virginia Woolf, 20 years after both entered the Canadian public domain. The Canadian government is now considering a plan to enter trade negotiations that would extend the term of copyright by 20 years, meaning nothing new would enter the public domain in Canada until at least 2032. The government is holding a public consultation with the chance for Canadians to speak out to save the public domain."

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NASA Launches Open Source Portal Slashdotby Soulskill on nasa at January 1, 1970, 1:00 am (cached at January 6, 2012, 9:01 pm)


sproketboy writes "NASA has launched code.nasa.gov, which will become a portal for NASA's open source software development activities. In its current form, it hosts a directory of the organization's open source software projects and provides documentation about NASA's open source software processes."

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