Oldest, Oddest Fungi Finally Photographed

The fungal cells in this picture are so small and hard to detect that they had to be colored with fluorescent dye before they could be recorded. They are attached to algae cells.

The first views suggest that unlike any other fungi known, these might live as essentially naked cells without the rigid cell wall that supposedly defines a fungus, says Tom Richards of the Natural History Museum in London and the University of Exeter in England. He calls these long-overlooked fungi cryptomycota, or “hidden fungi.” Of the life stages seen so far, a swimming form and one attached to algal cells, there’s no sign of the usual outer coat rich in a tough material called chitin, Richards and his colleagues report online May 11 in Nature.

“People are going to be excited,” predicts mycologist Tim James of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, who also studies an ancient group of fungi.

But now scientists will have to either redefine what a fungus is, or classify a new group of species that are “almost-fungus.” Read more about it at Wired Science. Link

(Image credit: Meredith Jones)

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Oldest, Oddest Fungi Finally Photographed

What Bias? FCC Commissioner Leaving To Become Comcast Exec

Now, let’s be charitable here and admit that it’s natural for people to perform similar duties in business as they might have in government, and vice versa. It’s called job experience. But honestly now. Voting in favor of the Comcast-NBC Universal merger and then leaving to join that company five months later? You’re joking, right?

Other, more important people than me will be objecting to this, I’m sure, but I just wanted to put down for the record here how incredibly inappropriate this obviously is.

Funnily enough, she criticized the merger process as taking too long. I wonder why!

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What Bias? FCC Commissioner Leaving To Become Comcast Exec

A Peek At Google TV’s New Interface


Google announced yesterday that Google TV would be expanding and getting Android 3.1, but aside from some new manufacturers, there wasn’t much to show. Today, though, during another GTV-related developer talk, they showed off the new interface (above) and noted that the remote app API was being open-sourced. That’s nice — hopefully we’ll see more support in universal remote apps and so on now.

I like the new look, but what really matters is how it performs, of course. It won’t be rolling out until a bit later this year (no dates were mentioned, though summer is a possibility), but expect a preview before then.

[via Engadget]

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A Peek At Google TV’s New Interface

Editorial: Google clarifies Chromebook subscriptions, might have just changed the industry

Following Google’s second I/O keynote, we were ushered into a room where a number of the company’s executives were on hand to field questions from the press. Or in other terms, dodge bullets and tell us what we’re probably not looking to hear. All jesting aside, the Chrome team was rather forthright during the session, and a number of details surrounding the outfit’s (potentially game changing) subscription model were unearthed. Details on contract terms, what’s included / not included and where the line is drawn between enterprise and consumer lie just after the break, along with our take on how this monumental announcement may or may not change the way we buy computers.

Continue reading Editorial: Google clarifies Chromebook subscriptions, might have just changed the industry

Editorial: Google clarifies Chromebook subscriptions, might have just changed the industry originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 May 2011 19:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Shell opens America’s first pipelined hydrogen-fueling station in Southern California

Residents of SoCal’s Torrance should consider themselves lucky, as they’re now living in America’s first-ever city to have a pipelined hydrogen-fueling station. You can thank Shell and Toyota for picking up this government-funded green project. Sure, while the few other hydrogen stations still rely on delivery by supply truck (presumably running on diesel, ironically), this nevertheless marks a new milestone for our squeaky clean fuel, and it’s only a matter of time before more stations get piped up to Air Products’ hydrogen plants. If there’s any indication of a time frame, Wired reminds us that 2015 should see the arrival of many new mass-market hydrogen cars from Toyota, Honda, and Mercedes-Benz. Not long to go now, fellow tree huggers.

Shell opens America’s first pipelined hydrogen-fueling station in Southern California originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 May 2011 10:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Firmware hack can transform a 2009 Mac Pro into a 12-core monster



Apple upgraded the Mac Pro in 2010 with Westmere Xeon CPUs, including a dual six-core option that can power through multithreaded workflows with aplomb. But what if you don’t want to shell out all that money for a new Mac Pro? A clever hacker has discovered a firmware hack to effectively transform 2009 vintage Mac Pros into 2010 Mac Pros, including compatibility with Westmere CPUs, faster RAM, and audio output via Mini DisplayPorts.

A member of the forums on netkas.org—where lots of hackintoshers and system tweakers exchange tips—discovered the mechanism Apple uses to install EFI firmware updates. By exploiting that mechanism, a user named “MacEFIRom” was able to develop scripts to force older, 2009 Mac Pros to accept a firmware update intended for the 2010 Mac Pros. That firmware enables a 2009 Mac Pro to act and operate just like the 2010 Mac Pro.

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Firmware hack can transform a 2009 Mac Pro into a 12-core monster