There are a few sounds and chimes that provide the digital soundtrack to the early years of the internet and computing—things like “You’ve Got Mail” and Nokia’s famous chirpy ringtone. But none may be as memorable as the simple startup chime that greets Mac users when they push the power button.View full post on YoutubeBut according to one report, that chime will no longer come standard on Apple’s new Macbook Pros....
Another day, another scandalous report on Facebook abusing user trust. This one comes from The New York Times, which alleges that Facebook provided partner companies like Spotify and Netflix broad abilities to inspect user data. Even if users had disabled all sharing on Facebook through security preferences, some of these partner companies had the ability to scan through profiles anyway. “Facebook allowed Microsoft’s Bing search engine to see the names of virtually all Facebook users’ friends without consent,” the Times declares, “and gave Netflix and Spotify the ability to read Facebook users’ private messages....
A new paper reveals a solid but elastic electrolyte material for use in lithium ion batteries.The modern world heavily relies on lithium ion batteries, which have tons of room for improvement.This polymer is flexible and self-healing because of how it is chained and bonded together. Engineers at the University of Illinois are working on a new way to build lithium-ion batteries that will make them safer and hopefully extend their working life, New Atlas reports....
Marsha Taub-Edmunds and Ed Edmunds, owners of Distortions Unlimited in Colorado, make the scariest mummies, ghouls, and zombies that their minds can dream up. For 40 years their monsters have been used in movies, theme parks, and haunted houses—and now, your front porch.Here, they teach you how to make a simple Halloween monster. Find the assembly diagram in a PDF here.MaterialsTwo 10-foot pieces of 1.5-inch diameter ABS or PVC pipeFive 1....
Even robots make mistakes sometimes. That’s why researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have built a system while allows robots to be corrected through thought and hand gestures. The system monitors brain activity, determining if a person has noticed an error in the machine’s work. If an error is detected, the system reverts over to human control. From that point, all it takes is a flick of the wrist to get the robot back on the right course....
Media Platforms Design TeamBluetooth isn’t exactly known for being an audiophile-friendly audio standard thanks to range limitations and troubles with barriers like walls. But the Jawbone Jambox ($200), which drops November 16, just might have Bluetooth-naysayers forgetting the limitations and making the switch to a connection-free speaker dock. For starters, this is one of the best-sounding (and loudest, at 85 dB) battery-powered compact speakers we’ve ever heard (seriously: this thing has surprising juice behind it)....
When you plop down on the coach and realize the remote is nowhere to be found, you have a few courses of action. You can find it, obviously, or get some sort of couch-mounted holster to ensure it never goes missing again once you figure out where it is. Or, you can forget about watching the boob tube altogether, head for the workshop, and build a new one just for the hell of it....
The U.S. Navy announced the recovery of the remains of a transport aircraft lost at sea. The C-2 Greyhound was lost in 2017 as it attempted to fly out to the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan in the Philippine Sea. Three aircrew were lost in the accident. The aircraft was lost on November 22, 2017, on a mission from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan to the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan sailing in the Pacific Ocean....
According to an astonishing report from Bloomberg, electronic car manufacturer Tesla has found itself caught in a web of leaks, intimidation, and manipulation at Gigafactory 1, located near Reno, Nevada. Relying on reports from former security officers and an electronics technician, Bloomberg paints Tesla CEO Elon Musk as willing to go beyond ethical and legal limits to stifle leakers.The report tells the story of technician Martin Tripp and security officer Sean Gouthro, whose fates became intertwined after a story in Business Insider published on June 4, 2018....
Solar eclipses were long thought to be magic. In fact, ancient female astronomers like Hypatia and Aglaonice of Thessaly were called witches when they accurately predicted the occurrence of an eclipse.Of course, we now know that eclipses are the result of the moon blotting out the sun for a temporary period. But back in 1900, people couldn’t just fire up YouTube to catch a glimpse of the astronomical phenomenon. So to those who had never seen such a thing before (i....
This cute little number is the DART 450, a training aircraft by Austrian company Diamond Aviation that just made its maiden flight, seen below.DART stands for Diamond Aircraft Reconnaissance Trainer, and the company says the little turboprop can fly eight hours without refueling and reach a top speed of about 290 mph. The sweeping cockpit views are good for pilots learning to fly and for going on reconnaissance runs. Says Diamond Aircraft chief designer Clemens Knappert: “We achieved our target from the first drawings to the first flight in one year....
Actors, writers, directors and producers on Star Trek: Discovery should be aware that a natural result of being successful at their jobs is that their every decision and choice will likely be studied and examined for years. Case in point? This video examining a planet only ever seen for a few seconds in the Voyager opening credits, which debuted in 1995.Engaging in a fun hypothetical, EC Henry looks at fairly obvious clues within the credits that point at the phenomenal nature of the planet Voyager appears to be exploring....
New technology promises to give tankers an unprecedented view of the battlefield around them—without exposing them to lethal enemy fire. Camera systems, often linked to VR headsets, can provide soldiers with a real-time view of the world outside their tank, eliminating the often severely restricted view tankers are forced to fight with.Tanks are large, lethal, imposing beasts, surrounding their crews with layers of thick steel, composite, and even uranium armor. All of that protection makes it hard to see outside the tank, however, and tankers usually must rely on small vision ports to make sense of things....
Media Platforms Design Team(Photo Credit: Danita Delimont/Getty Images)To save endangered coral reefs, researchers at the Mote Tropical Research Laboratory want to create coral “seeds.” The grapefruit-sized superorganisms grow up to 50 times the rate of typical sea coral, and might be used to repopulate dying reefs across the world.With one-quarter of all reefs having disappeared in recent years, scientists have been scrambling to save the colonies of microscopic animals which serve as a home to countless other ocean species....
The photo of shipyards at Dalian, China, was taken from an airliner.The picture shows nine new destroyers, more than the entire Royal Navy’s destroyer fleet. China’s first fully modern aircraft carrier is also visible in the distance under construction.A photo recently shared on social media shows the extent of China’s naval modernization effort. The picture, taken from a commercial airliner, shows off no less than nine destroyers and cruisers, plus an aircraft carrier under construction, hovercraft for amphibious ships, and even a missile-tracking ship....
Last week, a weather pattern known as a bomb cyclone set record low temperatures across the eastern part of the US and pounded cities and countryside with inches of snow. Rivers across the northeast were also frozen solid by the chilly weather. This week, the temperatures bounced back up to nearly 60 degrees in some places, melting the snow and defrosting the rivers rapidly. When this kind of change in temperature happens, ice jams can occur, like this one in the Ausable River, captured in a time lapse by the National Weather Service Office in Burlington, Vermont....
Media Platforms Design TeamMy engine has developed a strange ticking sound. Its whisper-quiet before an oil change, and then makes a loud tapping after a new filter and fresh oil. This cycle has been going on for about 20,000 miles. Even more strange: The engine is muffled when its cold but noisy when its warm. Whats going on here?Whenever loud ticking is involved, the most likely source is the valvetrain, but the reason for that ticking isnt always clear....
Twenty years ago today, the FCC formally approved what was seen as a sweeping step against violence, sex, and vulgar language in the media. On March 12, 1998, the agency announced the technical standards for manufacturing a microchip to be installed inside new television sets, known as the V-chip. Sound and fury surrounded the V-chip during its development and arrival in the 1990s. President Clinton proclaimed its power to save TV from violence and depravity....
Media Platforms Design TeamNASA and its partners snatch a small asteroid from deep space, bag it for delivery, and tow it into a safe orbit around our moon. There the captured asteroid creates an easy stepping-stone for astronaut explorers who want to explore an ancient rock from the dawn of the solar system, and creates a target for miners who might extract valuable water and metals. If successful, the grab demonstrates that humans could divert a dangerous space rock if necessary....
When I took a Master Gardener class, the instructors used a sharpening stone on a handle. I can’t find one anywhere. Do you know what it might be?—Ward P., Grove City, OhioMost likely you mean a Norton Utility File, a tool that has a well-earned reputation for quickly sharpen- ing or deburring a variety of cutting surfaces, so long as they don’t have to be honed to a razor-sharp edge. It’s perfect for sharpening shovels and hoes and lawn-mower blades....
