Is there anything worse than a tangled cable? No. No there isn’t. And while your headphones might be doomed to tangle up in your pocket, your extension cords need not suffer a similar fate. Not when you build a marvelous folding extension cord rack. Designed and built by Mike of the DIY duo Mike and Lauren, this folding rack is a more convenient (but maybe also sort of overkill) solution compared to a plain old rack on the wall....
Robin Murphy, a robotics professor at Texas A&M University, is taking on the robots of sci-fi in a new series for the academic journal Science Robotics. First up: R2-D2 and BB-8, the beloved droids of Star Wars.The first paper, published today, examines the real-world feasibility of the two breakout bots. While astromech droids are cute and useful in the galaxy far, far away, they wouldn’t be all that useful here on Earth....
The missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald has left drydock and is floating on its own, nearly two years after the ship collided with a civilian merchant vessel. The June 2017 incident killed ten sailors and badly damaged the ship, forcing the Navy to bring it back to the United States for repairs. The ship has been under repair for more than a year and still has some ways to go before it can return to the fleet....
Last night, Telsa Motors sent a software update to its cars that activates two modes: Sentry Mode and Dog Mode. One protects against thieves, the other protects against judgmental passers-by.Sentry Mode (available only on the Model 3 for now, and coming later to Model S and X vehicles built after August 2017) uses the cameras and sensors throughout the vehicle—the same hardware that informs the Autopilot self-driving system—to discourage would-be thieves or anyone from getting too close....
At 30 years of age a crossroads lay before me. To the right my conventional life. The left my dreams. Like a strong headwind, the Great Recession, in 2009, set me free.Swept from a career in the financial markets. Coupled with the loss of my best friend Ben, I formed a plan: honor Ben’s death by making his camera live again! So it came to pass I began a new career as a photographer....
Media Platforms Design TeamBunReseachers in Iran demonstrated in late 2012 that a computer-vision system can predict how crusty bread will be. Bread’s texture depends on moisture loss, air velocity, oven temperature, and bake time. A talented baker could adjust these variables to produce the perfect hamburger bun.Media Platforms Design TeamMeatIt’s tempting for meat producers to cut costs by adding offal or pork, among other things, to ground beef. Scientists in Ireland and Egypt have figured out how to use near-infrared spectroscopy—studying chemical bonds’ vibrations to identify which molecules are present—to verify if adulterated meat is on market shelves....
The International Space Station is reaching the end of its lifetime, and NASA and the White House are still trying to figure out what to do with it. Previously, the government proposed ending federal funding for the ISS in 2025 to focus on lunar exploration goals, while Russia is considering plans to turn the station into a luxury space hotel.A White House budget request released on Monday gives more details about the Trump administration’s plan for the ISS over the next decade....
This time of year, when everybody’s sick to death of winter and waiting for the warm-up, you can count on hearing some people complain about how there could be global warming when it’s so damn cold outside. Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, a longtime climate change denier, just threw a snowball on the floor of Congress to prove how cold it is out there in Washington, D.C.Well, here’s your annual reminder that a snowstorm isn’t the same thing as a long-term climate trend....
Transcendent ManDirector: Barry Ptolemy[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/v/ntY01qoIdus&hl=en&fs=1[/youtube]The documentary Transcendent Man delves into the idea of “singularity,” as expanded upon by the notorious futurist Ray Kurzweil. In singularity–which Kurzweil theorizes will happen in just 30 years thanks to the ever-increasing speed of technological change–humans and machines fuse, creating super-intelligent, long-lived beings. Director Barry Ptolemy follows Kurzweil’s journey to convince mankind of this rapid evolutionary change and profiles the followers–including William Shatner and Stevie Wonder–of the regimen that Kurzweil says will bestow eternal life....
The new U.S. Space Force saw one of its most important missions so far today as it helped test an intercontinental ballistic missile.The Minuteman III missile sent a reentry vehicle over four thousand miles to land at Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific.The Air Force plans to replace Minuteman III with a new missile, GBSD, starting in 2030. The U.S. Space Force, America’s newest military service branch early this morning conducted a test of a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile....
The U.S. Marines are looking for a new armored vehicle.Their requirements: The vehicle must be capable of scouting ahead of friendly forces and reporting on enemy positions, while at the same time packing enough firepower to hold their own on the battlefield. The future Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle will replace the 1980s-era LAV-25 light armored vehicle, bringing new capabilities including the ability to control unmanned vehicles.In the 1980s, the U.S. Marine Corps fielded the LAV-25, or Light Armored Vehicle....
We’ve all heard the urban myth before. A guy runs into a little old lady who’s got “some dusty car” buried deep in her barn under some moving boxes and old furniture pads. Her late husband owned the car and now she just wants to get rid of it. The lady doesn’t realize that the metal heap in her possession is in fact a rare and highly coveted classic. The lucky guy ends up getting a million dollar Porsche or Ferrari for peanuts....
Engine: 4.0-liter V6, 270 hp and 278 lb-ft of torque / Transmission/transfer case: Five-speed automatic/rear-wheel-drive, part-time 4WD or full-time 4WD / EPA Fuel Economy / (4x4): 17 mpg city, 20 mpg highway / Ground Clearance: 9.6 inches / Suspension: Independent front, solid axle rear with coil springs / Towing Capacity: 5,000 poundsI am old enough to remember when SUVs first took off, and mobs of people who formerly drove wagons or minivans piled into body-on-frame Explorers and set off for outdoorsy adventures, driving to the mall to get an Orange Julius while listening to the new Collective Soul CD....
Media Platforms Design TeamThese days, 3D printers are laying down plastics, metals, resins, and other materials in whatever configurations creative people can dream up. But when the next 3D printing revolution comes, you’ll be able to eat it.Engineers and gourmands alike are dabbling with edible substances as raw materials for 3D printing. Among their hoped-for results: previously unachievable food shapes and textures, personalized grub, and varied menus on future long-term voyages to Mars....
Speaking to the Earth’s incredible biodiversity, scientists have discovered that Cetaceans, the infraorder of aquatic mammals that includes a variety of dolphins and whales, originated from a small, four-legged, hoofed ancestor that could walk on land as well as swim. Found amidst 42.6-million-year-old marine sediments along the coast of Peru, the ancient creature, named Peregocetus pacificus, rewrites the history of what is known about ancient cetaceans. While it was previously known that whales descended from land-based animals like the Ambulocetidae, these animals all existed in the Atlantic, often near the area now known as Pakistan....
Earlier this month, a Chinese nuclear-powered attack submarine surfaced in the East China Sea. The submarine, flying a huge Chinese flag, surfaced after being followed by Japanese naval forces. The incident raises a question: Are Chinese nuclear submarines too loud for their own good?China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy operates between six and thirteen Shang class nuclear attack submarines. Also known as the Type 093 class, the Shang boats are 361 feet long, displace 7,716 tons of water submerged, and can dive to up to 2,296 feet....
In western Antarctica, a glacier the size of Florida sits precariously, ready to fall off into the sea at a moment’s notice. The Thwaites glacier is widely seen as one of the biggest potential sources of sea level rise, and if it collapses, it might contribute up to 16 feet of rising ocean water. That’s why the United States and the U.K. are sending a joint expedition to study the region....
We’ve seen inductive charging take over power tools, but it’s still not standard among mobile devices despite its convenience and ease of use. You could buy a third-party inductive charger, but think about making your own using a CNC router and a charging kit.This video from Make Magazine lays out the process, which is really straightforward. First, sketch out the dimensions you’d like your charger to have, including space on the inside to fit the inductive kit....
Outdoor benches can be expensive to buy and complicated to build, but not this one. With a few simple materials, tools, and basic lumber—nothing but a few 2 x 4s—you can build this bench on a Saturday afternoon and be reading the Sunday paper on it the next morning.Supplies needed include:• 8 - 8 foot 2 x 4s• 24 - 2 1/2 inch deck screws• 24 - 2 1/2 inch pocket hole screws• Outdoor wood glueYou’ll need a saw of some type to make your cuts and the ability to measure and cut angles....
View full post on YoutubeMakers who love creating with littleBits are about to get a new tool to play with: the cloudBit, which can connect anything to the Internet. LittleBits, a New York-based startup, builds a library of connecting electronic pieces that snap together with magnets, making it easy for makers to build electronics without having to solder or do complex programming. The littleBits library has more than 60 modules that work with each other, and projects range from simple countdown timers to animatronic hands....
