It’s an old observation that freedom of the press exists primarily for people who own a printing press. The Internet has changed that, as seen in the growth of blogs, the Web logs (or online journals) that countless people use every day to share their thoughts on everything from Pakistan to pachyderms. Nearly 15,000 new blogs are created daily, according to the blog search engine Technorati, spurred partly by advancing technology....
Designer Kenji Ekuan has died at age 85, according to the BBC. He designed motorcycles, trains, and other items, but his most iconic design is the Kikkoman soy sauce bottle, which was featured at the Museum of Modern Art. Born in 1929, Ekuan was a Buddhist monk before moving along to design. His father died in the Hiroshima bombing in 1945, inspiring Ekuan to enter the monastery before leaving for design school in the 1950s, graduating in 1955....
Media Platforms Design Team"Do you work for Infiniti?" a well turned-out, silver-haired woman inquired near a chandeliered tent displaying Infiniti’s upcoming Q50 at the Amelia Island Concours. “I just love my G37,” she gushed after confirming my host’s affiliation with the Japanese manufacturer. “I’m always getting compliments on my car!“The unsolicited hat tip was exactly the sort of response Infiniti seeks– and precisely the sort of enthusiasm they’re hoping will boost their Q50, which will begin at $36,450, or $43,700 for a Hybrid version, when it hits showrooms this summer....
Media Platforms Design TeamA model of the Yutu lunar rover. Credit: ChinaFotoPress/Getty ImagesThe Chinese National Space Administration’s (CNSA) announcement of its early December lunar rover mission is historic in many ways. For one, it’s been almost 40 years since there’s been a soft landing on the moon when the Soviet Union landed the Luna probe in 1976. Also, China is coming off a summer of success after completing the Shenzhou 10 mission in late June, a mission that docked with China’s space station, Tiangong-1....
Cataclysmic events have hit Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, not once but twice, leaving scars seen on the moon to this day.When the New Horizons probe zipped through the Pluto system last July, the NASA team spearheaded by the Southwest Research Institute and Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory noticed a large ridge running across most of the surface of Charon. While the explanation for this formation wasn’t immediately apparent, those scientists now think the moon once had an ocean, and that the ocean then froze and ripped a giant gash in the surface....
Regardless of how many exciting concepts or new vehicles are introduced at the Detroit show this week, the biggest news may have broken Saturday night: At the annual Road & Travel Magazine’s International Car of the Year awards banquet, PM’s Detroit Editor, Jim Dunne, was honored for his years as an automotive journalist.Dunne received the highly coveted Road & Travel Magazine’s Lifetime Achievement award before a ballroom filled with automotive executives and journalist colleagues from around the world....
Scientists are developing a new way to turn escaping nighttime heat into “reverse solar”-style energy.This isn’t the only team to work on capturing low-wavelength radiation as a way to increase energy efficiency.The secret is using thermal radiation cells instead of photovoltaic solar cells.From the annals of symbolism, Inverse reports that scientists are working on backward solar panels that generate power at night. In what could be the most hardcore paper title ever, the researchers are calling their process “Optically Coupling with Deep Space....
SpaceX’s Mk1 rocket, a Starship prototype, suffered an anomaly during a cryogenic pressure test at the company’s Boca Chica, Texas, facility. The upper bulkhead of the vehicle launched into the air and plumes of vapor and cryogenic liquid were seen wafting from the spacecraft. According to a tweet by Elon Musk and comments from SpaceX representatives, the company will now focus its efforts on developing the next iteration, Mk3.SpaceX’s Starship prototype, MK1, experienced a failure during a launch test at the company’s Boca Chica, Texas, test facility last night, Nov....
Media Platforms Design TeamThe humpback whale, despite its bulbous proportions and tiny fins, cuts through the water with the agility of a small creature. Now you can too.The new Nemesis Fin ($39) by Speedo is biomimicry in action. It’s jagged design inspired by the humpback’s fin is intended to help swimmers of any skill level propel themselves faster or enhance their workout in the pool by pushing more water.Ridges and scalloped outer edges create more surface area for the fins to push water....
Scientists recently announced progress on an elusive problem from 1960 known as the Sunflower Conjecture. While it doesn’t involve any plant biology, it does deal with objects called “mathematical sunflowers,” which are arguably cooler than the garden staple. The latest news isn’t a complete solution to the longstanding conjecture, but it is a significant step forward after decades of relative inactivity.The story of this math problem—like so many others—starts with a Hungarian mathematician named Paul Erdős, who holds the all-time record for the most publications in mathematics....
Media Platforms Design TeamMedia Platforms Design TeamLet the Resolutionary War BeginThanks to a pricing nose dive, nearly any average joe can lug an HDTV into his living room. But most hi-def video cameras are still esoteric objects aimed at the wealthy digital elite. So if an average joe wanted to make hi-def home movies, we’d hand him the Sanyo Xacti HD1, an 8.1-ounce, pocket-size hi-def machine that records to SD cards and also has a 5....
The deepest point on land, a trough 2 miles below sea level, has been discovered below a glacier in Antarctica. The location and details of the trough were revealed Dec. 12 in the journal Nature Geoscience and presented at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in San Francisco on Dec. 13.Scientists cobbled together radar data, snow accumulation measurements, and surface motion data in order to chart the previously undiscovered valley. Scientists have plumbed the deepest depths ever discovered on land, and it lies beneath an Antarctic glacier....
Warning: Spoilers!Cersei Lannister needs some anti-dragon air defenses, so the twisted mind of Qyburn has dreamed up a double-bowed monstrosity. In season 7, he tests it on an ancient dragon skull (which would be like firing an AR-15 through King Tut’s sarcophagus), and in season 8—it appears he’s made a few more. One hell of an anti-aircraft defense system.But Cersei’s high powered anti-dragon weapon is much more than just fantasy. In human history, this old-school Godzilla-sized crossbow goes by a different name—a ballista....
The U.S. Navys’ next surface warship will look a lot like the current Zumwalt-class of stealth destroyers. The future Large Surface Combatant, scheduled to enter service in the late 2020s, will retain the spaceship-like appearance of the Zumwalts, with weapons and sensors hidden under the flat surfaces of a radar-evading hull.U.S. Naval Institute News quotes Rear Adm. William Galinis, the Navy’s program executive officer for ships, as stating that the Large Surface Combatant, or LSC, is “probably going to look a lot more like a DDG-1000 than a DDG-51....
Mock up of the original Hall of Presidents, scanned image from a 1971 Disney annual reportDisneyAs the red curtain rises, subtle blue light bathes 43 presidents. After a few words from America’s most illustrious founding father, all heads turn (some more smoothly than others) to our current commander-in-chief as the spotlight shines on his familiar visage. “The American dream is as old as our founding,” begins robot Obama, “but as timeless as our hopes....
The Royal Navy is currently testing a landing system that will allow its F-35B Joint Strike Fighters to fly farther and with greater payloads. The shipborne rolling vertical landing will allow F-35Bs to land on the U.K.’s new carriers with larger payloads, eliminating the need to jettison expensive stores just to land on ships.The U.K.’s newest aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, has spent the better part of a month off the U....
Titanium is the picture of metallic strength and versatility. Light and strong, titanium alloys are put to good use in aircraft, spacecraft, cars, motorcycles, you name it. But what if you just get a chunk of the raw stuff and then shoot guns at it? How does it hold up? Pretty dang well. Matt from Demolition Ranch got his hands on a chunk of titanium over an inch thick, and immediately took it out to the woods to fire an army of increasingly powerful guns at it....
China vs VietnamIn a disputed patch of the Pacific Ocean, the appearance of an oil rig has sparked an international crisis—and a rash of ships ramming one other. Why spar over a stretch of outwardly useless atolls and islands in the South China Sea? The natural resources and geography of the islands makes them valuable and worth contesting. Other nations in the region claim this turf, but Vietnam and China are particularly on edge, as they fought over the islands as recently as the 1980s in an ugly battle of amphibious landings and naval combat—the Johnson South Reef Skirmish....
Loopiest Water SlideCannonball Loop (aka the Looping Water Slide), Action ParkMedia Platforms Design TeamAction Park was a place of legends. A spectacular orgy of thrills and danger that, due to pesky things such as insurance companies and basic common sense, will likely never be recreated.The park, which was open from 1978 to 1996, was loaded with rides that seemed intent on pushing the limits of physics. At least six people died at the hands of the parks attractions, and countless more were injured (earning the park the affectionate nicknames “Accident Park,” “Traction Park” and “Class-Action Park”)....
UPDATE: A post on StarTrek.com gives a little more info on the new series. The series will be broadcast first-run on CBS’ new streaming service, CBS All Access, then distributed to TV and other streaming services. The series is likely to feature all new characters and is not connected to Star Trek Beyond. The first episode will air in January 2017. Just in time for the 50th anniversary of the show, Hollywood Reporter reports that a new Star Trek TV series is underway....
