Posts

Media Platforms Design TeamSummer is blackout season, when heat waves bring on extra air-conditioning use, and extra air-conditioning use taxes the power grid and leads to rolling blackouts. And while the power grid in the U.S. is relatively stable—99.9 percent stable if you factor out weather-related outages, according to the Electric Power Research Institute—power outages are a year-round fact of life. A growing population, along with more homes that cover more area, has meant that hurricanes, wildfires, and other disasters impact more people and have led to a staggering increase in power outages....

View full post on YoutubeProsthetic limbs have been improving by such leaps and bounds in recent years that a patient controlling an artificial arm with his or her mind is old news. Now they’ve gone even further: Les Baugh, a double amputee who lost both arms in an electrical accident 40 years ago, has been outfitted with new robotic limbs that he can control simultaneously with his mind. The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory developed Baugh’s new high-tech limbs....

It’s colder than a witch’s belt buckle outside, so you gulp down some hot coffee, dash to the car, start the engine and run inside. Although you know engine idling isn’t a great way to warm up an engine, comfort counts most on a cold morning. Once embarked on your morning commute, you turn the heater control up to Hot and flip the blower switch. The effect of the hot coffee has worn off, but you’re not getting enough heat from the floor registers to make up for it....

Media Platforms Design TeamLast week’s unveiling of the 2014 Jeep Cherokee in advance of the New York Auto Show triggered a polarizing range of reactions: While some embraced the crossover’s forward-thinking design, others thought it looks like it’s sucked on a lemon a tad too long (and some have gone so far as to re-render it, sans sour-face)… but more curious than the style reactions is the chatter surrounding the Cherokee nameplate....

My obsession with eyestrain started in junior high. Within a year of getting my first laptop, I had to be fitted for my first pair of glasses. From then on I did everything I could to keep my eyes from getting worse. Originally that meant turning my monitor brightness way down and taking frequent breaks from the screen. But in the years since, as research pours in showing that our constant exposure to artificial light may lead to everything from insomnia to obesity to prostate cancer, I’ve had to up my vigilance....

On June 19th, Iran shot down an RQ-4 Global Hawk reconnaissance drone, according to both Iranian sources and the Pentagon.Iran claims the drone was flying in Iranian airspace, but the U.S. government denies that claim.The RQ-4 Global Hawk is a unmanned, non-lethal reconnaissance drone, so no U.S. personnel were killed or injured in the attack. However, experts fear the attack only increases tensions between the two countries.The Pentagon confirmed early this morning that an unmanned U....

The ATHENA system, built by Lockheed Martin, destroyed several flying drones during a single test. The Air Force is concerned about swarming drone attacks on air bases. Lockheed Martin’s announcement is missing key details to help evaluate the test. A laser defense system burned several flying drones out of the sky at army base in Oklahoma, demonstrating it can handle multiple threats per engagement. The U.S. military is pushing to develop laser weapons as a counter to the threat of drone swarms against military bases, especially air bases, where a single drone can do a lot of damage against multi-million dollar aircraft....

French aircraft maker Airbus is mulling an idea called “budget economy” that’s bad news for your knees and sanity. The plan is to add another seat to each row of the basic coach class in its long-haul A330 jets, bringing the total number of seats across to nine. The seats would be a cozy 16.7 inches wide. (By comparison, budget carrier Spirit Airlines flies planes with seats at just 17.75 inches wide — the tightest in the United States....

A new rail-mounted intercontinental ballistic missile is due to hit Russian railroads in 2020. Russian state media has announced the BZhRK “Barguzin” rail-mounted nuclear missile will begin testing in 2019 and enter service the following year. The scheme is designed to make the country’s nuclear arsenal more mobile and thus more difficult to locate in wartime.One of the many problems with ICBMs is they are high-priority targets in the event of nuclear war....

Our bodies are not our own, at least not entirely. They’re filled with tiny bacteria and other microorganisms, collectively called our microbiome. This small ecosystem features bacteria on our skin, in our mouths, in our guts, and nearly every corner of our bodies, and they perform crucial tasks that help keep us alive. For instance, bacteria in your intestines are the reason you can digest complex carbohydrates like starch.Understanding this microbiome is key for doctors and scientists looking to improve human health....

A new year means new sci-fi, and there’s lots to be excited about. Whether you’re into superheroes, kaiju, evil robots, or a galaxy far, far away, 2019 has a little bit of everything. Here are all the films for every sci-fi fan to keep in mind, along with some preliminary expectations for the film. We’ll update this list with our thoughts when films release and when more are announced for the 2019 calendar year....

Media Platforms Design TeamWho was to blame for the well failure?In the immediate aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, BP shouldered much of the blame from the public. Though it tried to pass off some responsibility to its contractors, Transocean (owner of the rig) and Halliburton (well cementer), BP was forced to set up a $20 billion fund to compensate citizens living in the Gulf Region. However, the final government report on the spill, released in January, implicated all three companies: “Better management by BP, Halliburton and Transocean would almost certainly have prevented the blowout by improving the ability of individuals involved to identify the risks they faced, and to properly evaluate, communicate and address them....

For over a decade, the Roman Catholic Church has been offering an exorcism course, where attendees learn step-by-step approaches to recognize the devil, distinguish possession from mental illness, and cast away demons. This year’s course suggested that future exorcisms might even get delivered over the phone. According to Reuters, the 89-year-old Cardinal Ernest Simoni of Albania described reciting Latin prayers of exorcism over the phone, much like performing the rite in person....

The Flexrotor lifts off vertically, can stay in the air for over 40 hours, and is designed for maritime use, One of it’s intended uses? Hunting down fish poachers.View full post on YoutubeThe drone, which weighs 45 pounds and has a wingspan of almost 10 feet, is a potentially better option for keeping and eye in the sky than the helicopters more commonly used. Flexrotor uses a flexible turret equipped with a regular and infrared camera to search out and track the fish....

DJI, the world’s leader in recreational drone sales, just opened its flagship store in Shenzhen, China. The company, which owns about 70 percent of the drone market, wants the store to be a high-tech interactive center. Media Platforms Design TeamMedia Platforms Design TeamThe interior architecture was inspired by the circular shape of drone propellers in motion. Measuring more than 8,600 square feet, the store includes multiple interactive areas including a theater where visitors can watch drone footage and a flight area with demo flights led by employees....

Media Platforms Design TeamBookshelves that pop out just the book you need. Kitchen tables that set themselves. Bathrooms that adjust to your personal comfort levels. The robots in this video from The Economist do absolutely none of those things. But they’re pretty adorable nonetheless. Stanford University created a motorized foot stool that can be summoned by its human captors owners. It’s either the best footstool or the worst R2-D2 ripoff, and as you can see in the video, some people treated it more like the latter than the former....

Browse expert reviews and compare info on the Fit Sport in ourMedia Platforms Design TeamUntil recently, we were still waiting for something, anything, to go wrong with our Honda Fit. A Check Engine light? Nope. A blown windshield-wiper fuse? Not yet.Okay, how about a flat tire? Uh, no. This Fit appeared to be as reliable as the best kitchen appliance. But then, just as it rolled over the 10,000-mile mark, a notice came in the mail suggesting a timing adjustment to the control unit that governs the driver’s airbag, to make it deploy quicker....

At 11:03 p.m. EST on Sunday, February 9, the ESA/NASA spacecraft Solar Orbiter successfully launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The spacecraft is designed to study space weather, solar winds and radiation and, for the first time, the sun’s poles. It will join Parker Solar Probe, a NASA solar orbiter, which has been observing the sun since its launch in 2018. Update: At 11:03 p.m. EST, NASA and ESA’s Solar Orbiter launched for the sun aboard United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket....

Researchers at Rice University have come up with custom circuits that make internet-of-things (IoT) devices up to 14,000 times more secure. Hardware makes this all possible. Energy-efficient circuits manage the power in processing chips, leading to tightened security.The paper describing the findings will be published later this year in 2020 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference.Without you knowing it, hackers can hang outside your home—all thanks to what’s known as a side-channel attack....

It’s impossible not to be skeptical of Ironman’s Resolution Vibration Trainer ($2000), which claims to help users lose weight by shaking them. You hold a sequence of poses, including squats and a legs-in-the-air crunch, for up to 90 seconds at a time while the platform vibrates. Ten minutes of this, says Ironman, is equal to 60 minutes of “conventional strenuous exercise.” We planned to test the Resolution for a full month–but then we turned it on....