Today, Google announced a bunch of new features coming to your Gmail. Most of them are neat, but minor. However, there are a few you should know about so you can check them out yourself. 1. How to turn it onGmail’s new features won’t turn on all by themselves, at least not yet. You have to opt in. Just go to the settings menu (the little grey cog button at the top right of your screen) and click “Try the new Gmail....
Among the many upcoming Star Wars spin-offs, there’s a new one on the horizon. Variety is reporting on plans to make a standalone movie on the early life of Han Solo, to be directed by Christopher Miller and Phil Lord. Miller and Lord previously collaborated on 21 Jump Street. Lawrence Kasdan and Jon Kasdan are writing it. The movie, slated for a May 25, 2018 release, will tell of the early days of Han Solo and how he became a smuggler....
Iran built a mockup of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in 2014-2015.The “ship” was heavily damaged in Iranian naval exercise, taking direct hits from a variety of Iranian weapons. The “carrier” is now under repairs, meaning it could be used in another exercise–one with a new meaning after the recent tit-for-tat crisis. Iran is repairing its imitation aircraft carrier, likely preparing it for a new round of exercises during which it will probably get blown up....
A resurfaced video showing two komodo dragons fighting has enthralled the internet.The fight was originally reported by South China Morning Post earlier this year, but the ringside footage is enjoying a second life, thanks to Twitter.Komodo dragons are solitary and territorial animals, which can sometimes lead to titanic komodo clashes. If your first thought watching the footage of the sparring komodo dragons was something like, “the new Godzilla looks great,” we don’t blame you....
Ethan Siegel at the Medium blog Starts With a Bang has an awesome post on Iaepetus, which he deems the “Strangest moon” in the solar system. He hits the mark with that one. For starters, the moon has two distinct sides and albedos, one so much darker than the other that the side reflects minimal light, meaning from Earth telescopes it might not always be in the field of vision – even if it’s right in front of our faces....
There’s a well-deserved complaint that military technology takes so long to develop that it’s obsolete by the time it’s fielded. But that gripe can’t be made against the U.S. Air Force’s “Space Fence,” a new radar system being built to monitor action in Earth’s orbit.Later this year the Air Fore is scheduled to take possession of a powerful, electronically steered, phased array radar located on the remote Kwajalein atoll in the Pacific....
The next time a military helicopter pilot tells the co-pilot “take the controls," there may not need to be anyone in the next seat over. Military researchers are developing a new system that lets a pilot completely hand off flying the aircraft to an autonomous system. The ALIAS system, or Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System, was developed by DARPA to provide an invisible backup pilot, allowing the pilot to do other things such as coordinate friendly forces, adjust a plan of action, or anything else that requires full attention....
A quick riddle with a fun little turn of logic for you this week. Enjoy.ProblemAn influential Arab sheikh decides to hold a competition to see which one of his two sons will inherit his substantial fortune. He tells them to race their camels to a distant city, but the one whose camel arrives last will inherit the fortune. The two sons set out, determined to win the inheritance, and wander the desert for days, each attempting to outlast the other....
In 2027, war breaks out in Romania. The United States loses to Russia, whose military forces use drones and computer viruses to disable 70-ton American tanks. This fictional conflict happens in Silent Ruin, a comic book published by The Army Cyber Institute at West Point. It paints a grim vision of a future in which Russian forces use technology to exploit the U.S. Army’s vulnerabilities.According to Breaking Defense, the comic takes place nine years in the future....
What better way for an aluminum foundry to showcase its expertise than by creating a lightweight electric vehicle with a cast-aluminum frame? Enter the Zero, a two-passenger, lithium-battery-powered EV from Tazzari Group, an Italian company that specializes in manufacturing aluminum parts. And with its proud national pedigree, this car could help recast electrics as eco-friendly alternatives to sports cars. Or not.The SpecsThe Zero is not currently for sale in the United States, but Dale Long, CEO of EV Car Co....
A recently unearthed film from 1977 is a delightfully old-school look at the early days of the A-10 Warthog. Produced by the U.S. Air Force, “A-10 Capabilities and Sortie Surge” shows off the close air support jet during its earliest days, when it was on its way to winning America’s heart. View full post on YoutubeThis is an honest-to-goodness film, produced on 16-millimeter stock to be projected on a portable screen for an audience of military and government people crammed into the same room....
A preliminary National Transportation Safety Board report on the fatal Southwest Airlines accident on April 17 has revealed that traditional engine-checking protocols didn’t go far enough to prevent a catastrophe, according to aviation experts. This could be a crucial development for airlines like Southwest that make frequent takeoffs and landings with their jets, because those extra cycles add to the wear and tear on engines taking in foreign material from runways....
The Empire Strikes Back is the greatest Star Wars film ever created, and while the newest additions to the franchise are an improvement from the whole prequel debacle, it seems unlikely that an upcoming film will dethrone it. But Star Wars fans are recreating what the franchise’s most iconic film would look like anyway if it were updated for the more modern moviegoer.View full post on YoutubeSurprise, surprise—the film still looks amazing....
When companies try to reinvent the airline seating arrangement, it’s often in the name of making us even more miserable with new and interesting ways to cram more people inside a plane. But Molon Labe Designs has something that might do the impossible: Make you desire the middle seat.It’s called the Side-Slip Seat, and there are two important things to know. The first is that the middle seat sits slightly below and behind the aisle and window seats, giving the passenger more space (though no additional legroom, sadly) as well as access to both armrests....
The remains of the last ship known to bring enslaved people from Africa to the United States, a schooner named Clotilda, has been discovered off the banks of Mobile, Alabama. The wreck was abandoned in 1860 after illegally transporting 110 people from the Kingdom of Dahomey, now known as Benin, to Mobile.“The discovery of the Clotilda is an extraordinary archaeological find,” says Lisa Demetropoulos Jones, executive director of the Alabama historical commission, in a press statement....
Our moon is a strange one. Most of the moons in our solar system are captured asteroids, but ours is different. Scientists have long believed that our moon was formed when a giant asteroid crashed into the Earth billions of years ago. That impact ejected tons of debris into Earth’s orbit, where it eventually coalesced into the moon. That’s a pretty nice explanation, and it explains most of the data we have on the moon....
The number of nuclear weapons worldwide dipped slightly in 2017, with the world’s nine nuclear powers collectively downsizing by 500 weapons. The United States and Russia entered 2018 with fewer weapons, while China, India, and Pakistan gave their modest arsenals a slight boost. The world’s newest nuclear power, North Korea, is still a mystery with an unknown quantity of nuclear weapons. The nonprofit Stockholm International Peace Research Institute tracks the arms trade, current conflicts, and the number of worldwide nuclear weapons through its annual yearbook....
If you look up at some point over the next few months, you may notice an extra star in the sky. It’s not actually a star, or a planet, or a weird asteroid. It’s a satellite, placed there by New Zealand company Rocket Lab.Rocket Lab has been trying to build a new rocket and bring it to market, and it’s finally ready to start sending stuff into space. Last week, the company successfully pulled off their second test flight, launching a number of small satellites into orbit....
Sharks are archetype killers—often the apex predators of their environment, known for ripping prey to shreds. However, the bonnethead shark (Sphyrna tiburo) swims its own path. Scientists have discovered that it is an omnivore, the first known instance of a shark eating plants.It’s not just a nibble, either. The bonnethead, which tends to live around the coasts of southern American regions like Florida, California, Mexico, and Brazil, doesn’t turn to plants only when there’s no meat around....
For the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, you’ve no doubt seen plenty of photos of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins in their classic space suits, circa 1969. But what will space suits look like when we make it back to the Moon, or to our next great frontier, Mars?First off, let’s get the lingo right: They’re Extravehicular Mobility Units, EMUs for short. And they’ll be waiting for you to slip into on the Moon’s surface when you arrive....
