Saturday, July 17, 2004

Ariane Rocket Launches Canadian Satellite. KOUROU, French Guiana (Reuters) - A European Ariane rocket blasted-off from French Guiana late on Saturday and launched a satellite aimed at providing high-speed internet to northern and remote parts of Canada, space officials said. [Reuters: Science] 10:26:31 PM      Google It!.

The Stealth Desktop: Sight and Sound With Slackware [Slashdot:] for newbies 12:16:51 PM      Google It!.

Peeer review and open access. Tracey Brown et al., Peer Review and the acceptance of new scientific ideas, Sence About Science, June 24, 2004. A thorough exploration of peer review, particularly to help the public understand the process and learn to ask the right questions about controversial research results. For brief overviews, see the publisher's announcement and press release. The report endorses open access in several ways. For example, when "commercially generated scientific findings" must be disclosed prior to peer review, e.g. to prevent insider trading, then they should be accompanied by open-access data files to help researchers assess the reported findings (pp. xii, 28). OA journals may change the way they manage peer review but will not change the principle of peer review (p. 21). Self-archiving has created a new outlet for peer-reviewed articles (pp. 21-22). "Open Access may even increase the extent to which science is self-corrective because all qualified experts will be able to access all published papers" (p. 22). [Open Access News] 9:20:45 AM      Google It!.