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+ - Maybe it is not worms, but Mars has holes

Submitted by DusterBar
DusterBar writes "NASA photographs of Mars have relieved some rather interesting holes on Mars.

The most interesting one also has a strange and very visible circular creator around it that is unexplained.

The holes are interesting as speculation is that they connect to some underground caverns that could act as shelter from the harsh surface conditions. This could be a place where, if there is life on Mars, it could be more likely to have survived."

+ - Yellowstone National Park 2.5 Times Bigger Than Originally Thought-> 1

Submitted by iONiUM
iONiUM writes "From the article: "According to Jamie Farrell, the lead author in a University of Utah scientific study of Yellowstone National Park’s super volcano, the magma inside the volcanic caldera is 2.5 times larger than previously believed and spans a distance of 55 miles." As well, the article notes "The Mount St. Helens eruption created an eruption column (hot volcanic ash) which rose 80,000 feet. By contrast, should the Yellowstone caldera erupt, its smoke would circle the planet. Scientists believe the eruption would make a global event causing damage throughout the world. It is believed that the last eruption occurred 640,000 years ago. Some researchers believe the caldera is due to explode soon which notion is disputed by Farrell. He explained that he doesn’t know when it will explode, which begs the obvious question of how he is the able to refute those who say the caldera may explode sometime soon.""
Link to Original Source

Comment: Re:One thing I've learned.... (Score 2) 2219

by iONiUM (#46191933) Attached to: Slashdot Tries Something New; Audience Responds!

It's not like they can't monetize this site, they just don't know what they're doing.

The way to monetize Slashdot isn't to drive out the existing and very knowledgeable users/contributers by bringing in a site that caters to the masses.. no, it's to use this crowd's high level of technical expertise/knowledge to make profit. How? Charge for ask Slashdot! Have a technical problem and need assistance, and stackoverflow isn't cutting it? Well shit, pay Slashdot and get an article posted and bam, your problem will be answered by a slew of very intelligent people.

The other thing is jobs. I know Slashdot has a few job listings or whatever, but they aren't doing it right. They have a massive pool of people, some of whom are unemployed (if you read the comments). Why not hook up contractors/head hunters with these people through the site, for a price? Why not open up the subscriber base with an OPT-IN (by default opt-out) option where potential employers can contact us, and even post jobs (properly)?

These are two very simple ways they could monetize, and I don't have an MBA. I'm sure there's many more. Sometimes it's not about straight up ad-click and growing page views, it's about being intelligent, and working with the extremely valuable resource you have: very smart people who give articles and discussions for free!


by iONiUM (#46183175) Attached to: Slashdot Tries Something New; Audience Responds!
Ever wondered why open source "UX testing" results in Unity, and Apple's results in iOS (although, ignore iOS 7), or great new Android or Google Map us ability features? Most people don't know how to do us ability and aesthetic software properly, so you end up with a car with 20 horns.

Comment: Re:Just be honest - it's not for *US* (Score 2) 2219

by iONiUM (#46183159) Attached to: Slashdot Tries Something New; Audience Responds!
As a UI/UX lead with education in human interaction, its really weird that you claim UX "tests" show people want what Beta offers. It is more than possible to get a clean "trendy" updated UI and UX without sacrificing readability, content spacing or threaded replies. I would love to know exactly who worked on the beta, and what tests they did, because after seeing it and the mess that is mobile and remarks like "we could only test it on a few devices", I'm fairly confident Slashdot does not have senior UI/UX or QA. It's sad, and unacceptable. Contract a real designer, who has UI/UX training.
United States

Fracking Is Draining Water From Areas In US Suffering Major Shortages 268

Posted by samzenpus
from the looking-for-a-drink dept.
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "RT reports that some of the most drought-ravaged areas of the US are also heavily targeted for oil and gas development using hydraulic fracturing — a practice that exacerbates water shortages with half of the oil and gas wells fracked across America since 2011 located in places suffering through drought. Taken together, all the wells surveyed from January 2011 to May 2013 consumed 97 billion gallons of water, pumped under high pressure to crack rocks containing oil or natural gas. Up to 10 million gallons can go into a single well. 'Hydraulic fracturing is increasing competitive pressures for water in some of the country's most water-stressed and drought-ridden regions,' says Mindy Lubber. 'Barring stiffer water-use regulations and improved on-the-ground practices, the industry's water needs in many regions are on a collision course with other water users, especially agriculture and municipal water use.' Nearly half (47%) of oil and gas wells recently hydraulically fractured in the U.S. and Canada are in regions with high or extremely high water stress. Amanda Brock, head of a water-treatment firm in Houston, says oil companies in California are already exploring ways to frack using the briny, undrinkable water found in the state's oil fields. While fracking consumes far less water than agriculture or residential uses, the impact can be huge on particular communities and is 'exacerbating already existing water problems,' says Monika Freyman. Hydraulic fracking is the 'latest party to come to the table,' says Freyman. The demands for the water are 'taking regions by surprise,' she says. More work needs to be done to better manage water use, given competing demand."

Comment: Re:Kinda Suprised...but I guess I shouldn't be... (Score 2) 505

by iONiUM (#46130705) Attached to: The JavaScript Juggernaut Rolls On


The problem is advertisers/annoying websites are also using them.

Comment: Re:I'm not holding my breath for this! (Score 1) 153

by iONiUM (#46100195) Attached to: Samsung's First Tizen Smartphone Gets Leaked

Well, that's a great load of anecdotal shit. I have had an S3 since it came out in Canada in 2012, and it is still working fine (I've moved on to the Nexus 5, but my wife uses the S3 to this day). It has had no problems, and a few months ago I moved it to Cyanogenmod without issue.

The hardware is fine, and it's never had an issue. So while I'm sure this new OS will probably suck, let's try to figure out why it'll suck for actual reasons, rather than the Galaxy line which is actually pretty good. Credit where credit is due.
