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Even inside the Computer History Museum, August in Silicon Valley is too warm for a hoodie, so most of the 400 young engineers and programmers gathered here are wearing graphic T-shirts and baggy gym shorts or cargo pants. Many wear running shoes, but some are barefoot, and almost all have slumped posture and unstylish haircuts. Speakers on tripods at the edge of the room play dubstep, bass-heavy electronic music that reminds one of the sound effects from video games....

Media Platforms Design TeamHigh-definition video has emerged of China’s lone aircraft carrier, CV-16 Liaoning practicing aircraft takeoffs and landings. The video was apparently shot during a visit to the carrier by the head of China’s Navy during drills in the Bohai Sea. Named after the province in which it was built, the Liaoning is China’s first and only aircraft carrier. Built during the 1980s for the Soviet Navy, after the end of the Cold War it was sold as scrap to a Chinese businessman, who claimed to want to convert it to a casino....

NASA astronaut Christina Koch has returned from a record-breaking 328-day spaceflight. While aboard the International Space Station (ISS), Koch was part of the first all-female spacewalk and participated in a number of critical research projects. She launched for the ISS on March 14, 2019.NASA astronaut Christina Koch and her two space-faring colleagues landed safely on the remote steppes of Kazakhstan this morning. Koch returned from a record-breaking 328-day space mission—the longest amount of time spent in space by any woman....

The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence has been running roughly (figuratively and literally, at times) since Frank Drake launched Project Ozma in the late 1950s. In all that searching, it’s found only a few stray signals of unknown origin, but no concrete proof that it’s aliens at play. But KIC 8462852 could be the first big breakthrough for SETI, just a few months after the Breakthrough Listen project injected $100 million into SETI research over 10 years....

Media Platforms Design TeamFor the past 40 years, CPR has been composed of two things—rescue breaths and chest compressions—and this formula for cardiac survival can revive around 25 percent of patients without a pulse. However, emerging evidence suggests there may be a more effective protocol for resuscitation that can save even more lives, and it’s simpler than traditional CPR.Cardiocerebral resuscitation, or CCR, differs from CPR in that for the first 5 to 10 minutes after cardiac arrest, a rescuer does not breathe for the patient at all....

The future of space travel is reusability, the thinking goes. Ever since SpaceX dramatically lowered the costs of a rocket launch by recycling their first-stage boosters, other rocket companies have been setting their sights on building reusable rockets of their own. Both Russia and China have announced plans to design reusable rockets in the 2020s, and now France and Germany say they want one too.France and Germany have been collaborating for some time on a reusable engine for their upcoming Ariane 6 rocket....

A Volkswagen factory in Mexico has been receiving complaints from farmers that it’s been altering the weather and ruining their crops. In response, the factory has decided to shut down its weather machine.One of the many problems plaguing auto manufacturers is hail, which can ruin otherwise perfect cars before they’ve even left the factory. Automakers often employ some kind of tarp or netting to protect the cars, but Volkswagen’s Mexico factory took a different route, building multiple hail cannons to ward of bad weather....

Media Platforms Design TeamGoogle’s plan to try out its blazing-fast Gigabit Internet system in Kansas City has been simmering this summer as the tech giant surveyed households throughout the two cities (Kansas City, Kan., and Kansas City, Mo.) to see how many neighborhoods would pony up for the service. As it turns out, nearly all of them did. The Google Fiber teams divided the pair of cities into 202 districts it is cleverly calling “fiberhoods,” each with about 800 homes....

Hand-cranked pencil sharpeners work just fine, and maybe that is what makes them a perfect object to get the heavy duty treatment. And if a nitro pencil sharpener wasn’t enough for you, YouTuber Giaco Whatever upped the ante to a 1000cc, two-stroke engine.View full post on Youtube"This thing is a beast," Giaco says in a behind the scenes video. Initially from a jet ski, the engine didn’t come with a cooling system—the builders had assumed that any cooling the engine would need would come from surrounding water....

When your project for the day is painting a room, you probably don’t reach for a calculator. And if any math does come up, it’s likely the stuff you’ve known since grade school: Estimate the area of wall to be painted, divide it by the area each paint can covers, and round up. That sort of thing.But what if you are a mathematician? Can you use any advanced math to finish the job faster or more efficiently?...

If you’re among the 27 million travelers taking to the skies this Thanksgiving, chances are you’ll have ample time to cool your heels at an airport–and to grumble into a cellphone about a flight delay that’s threatening your holiday plans. But consider this: While the 2007 holiday season is projected to be the worst ever for flying, that iPhone in your shivering hand has become part of the government’s ambitious, high-tech plan to help you take off on time by 2010....

In 2016, NASA launched a new module for the International Space Station. While plenty of modules have been added to the station over the years, the one launched in 2016 was unique. It was the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), an experimental inflatable module that could make it easier to build space stations in the future. Now, NASA has extended the module’s contract for another three years.When BEAM was first installed in 2016, NASA gave it a one-year contract....

A model of the nonexistent Nazi UFO “Haunebu II” produced by model company Revell will no longer be produced after criticism about its historical inaccuracy. The model’s packaging, which falsely proclaimed the “round aircraft” was the first object able to fly in space with a top speed of 6000 kph (over 3700 mph), failed to mention that the craft was never built, drawing fire from The German Children’s Protection Association (DKSB) and Dresden’s Military History Museum (MHM), according to German publication, The Local....

By far the most important component in an electric car is the battery pack. Without one, you aren’t going anywhere. Even if you have one, it’ll lose some of its capacity as it ages, so they also need to be replaced every few years. That leaves us with the question of what to do with the old ones.Nissan’s Leaf is one of the oldest electric cars in production, and many of the battery packs sold with the first cars are reaching the end of their lifespan....

Media Platforms Design TeamGuarav Khanna is using old PlayStations to build supercomputers that run simulations of black holes.The University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth physics professor needed a supercomputer, but had to make due with limited funding. Then he struck upon an idea: Rather than buy a series of computers, he’d buy a bunch of PlayStation 3s, which retail for around $250, then install a custom operating system and network the devices.He started with 16 PS3s before the Department of Defense, taking inspiration from his work to build their own supercomputers, donated an additional 176 after....

Fossil’s wristwatch style takes on smartwatch functionality in the new Sport Touchscreen Smartwatch. With the look of a Fossil timepiece, expect the performance of a sport touchscreen smartwatch with integrated heart rate, NFC, untethered GPS capabilities and workout tracking —swimming included. The extended battery life now lasts over 24 hours to further support an ambient mode, customized dials, rapid charging, music control, apps, and smartphone notifications. The $255 watch comes in 41mm and 4 mm nylon and aluminum case sizes in six colorways....

The majority of refrigerators today are equipped with an automatic icemaker. The water valve supplying the icemaker is a key component of the icemaking system, and it should be the first thing you check if the icemaker’s performance is erratic or if the icemaker stops working. When the icemaker calls for ice, its switch closes an electrical circuit and energizes the solenoid-operated water valve. This allows water to flow through the valve and into the ice cube tray....

Welcome back to the mysterious chain of islands ruled by knights and knaves, with an occasional spy amongst their ranks. The knights, those honorable gents, always tell the truth. The knaves, those treacherous rogues, always lie. And the spies, loose with their allegiances, will speak truly or lie as they see fit. ProblemOn the island of knights and knaves and spies, you come to a fork in the road. One path leads to death, the other to salvation....

It’s finally happened: One of the world’s major military powers finally rolled out a giant fighting mech. Russian defense contractor Kalashnikov introduced a 13 foot tall bipedal fighting vehicle it says is suitable for engineering duties or “combat solutions.” But while combat walkers are a staple of science fiction, are they really all that practical?Looking like a giant egg on legs, Kalashnikov’s “controlled bipedal walker” was introduced at this week’s Army-2018 defense expo near Moscow....

Macbook Air for scaleIs it ever possible to have too much screen? Samsung’s new curved gaming monitor may have the answer. The 49-inch, 32:9 display may in fact be too large to fit on your desk. But if you can make room for it, you’ll get the sort of ludicrous wrap-around view that can only be rivaled by strapping a headset to your face. With a resolution of 3840 x 1080, the CHG90 is effectively two HD displays that have been fused together and curved....