Footage of a new Iranian missile that can be launched from a submarine appears to be genuine, according to an authority on submarines and submarine-launched weapons. The new ship-killer is designed to leave a submarine encapsulated in a torpedo. The missile then separates from the torpedo, homing in on enemy ships.View full post on TwitterThe new missile, called Jask-2, is just over ten feet long with a range of only 19 miles....
Media Platforms Design TeamPrice: $25It looks like an armored pencil box. The Safespace 5900D by Master Lock measures about 9.5 inches by 5.25 inches, and at its front clasp you’ll find a numeric code like that found on some bicycle locks. Choose your custom four-digit code (don’t pick 1-2-3-4) and you’re ready to stash your valuables inside the case. Safespace also comes with cable lanyard wrapped around its perimeter that comes loose when the correct code is entered....
Media Platforms Design TeamAirbags for motorcycles are nothing new; clever inventors have tinkered around with prototypes since the 1970s. But making the quantum leap from theory to practical application has been more difficult. While there are tether-based airbag suits on the market, the constraints of such systems limit their appeal. In many motorcycle accidents, the rider doesn’t separate far enough from the bike for the airbag to deploy, undermining the suit’s purpose....
Media Platforms Design TeamDETROIT — You don’t see much from this photo of a future Mustang, but what you don’t see might tell a story. First of all, the covering on the front clip is a typical method of hiding changes that automakers plan for future models. Put a covering of black plastic over the hood, fenders and grille, insert some padding to form bulges under the cover, and you can’t tell what the new car will actually look like....
Media Platforms Design TeamHardened Artillery Sites (HARTS)HARTS are a chief means of defense in North Korea. The North Koreans bury their weaponry—likely including artillery, anti-aircraft weapons, SCUD missiles tipped with chemical weapons and even airplanes under hills and mountains for protection. In this age of space and drone surveillance, the ability to deliver explosives to major South Korean cities is crucial to North Korea’s plans. There are rings of HARTs past the DMZ....
A perfect Patagonia bag exists for almost any occasion, whether you need a duffel for weekend (or week long!) travels, a backpack for summer day hikes, or a classic pack or messenger bag for the office. No matter your summer plans, Backcountry has a range of Patagonia’s best duffel bags and backpacks from 30 to 65 percent off right now.Our favorite rugged duffel bag is the Black Hole, which lives up to its name by being able to fit an astronomical amount of matter into a small space....
Media Platforms Design TeamSAN DIEGO — GM’s highly anticipated rear-drive Zeta platform has cousins all over the world. We’ll know it here as the Pontiac G8. In Australia, where Zeta was developed, it’s called the Holden Commodore. However, in Saudi Arabia and other parts of the world, it’s oddly badged as the Chevy Lumina. We recently caught a left-hand-drive, Saudi-market Lumina SS undergoing hot weather testing and active fuel management calibration here....
Media Platforms Design TeamKurt Andersen hosts a discussion on visual perception with artists Chuck Close and Devorah Sperber and neuroscientists Margaret Livingstone, Christ Tyler and Ken Nakayama. NEW YORK—It’s not too often the sound of robotics fills a city park typically reserved for dog walkers, or tickets sell out for an evening discussion of neurobiology. But that’s what happened last weekend at the World Science Festival in New York City, the annual event celebrating science and its influence in entertainment, philosophy, medicine and art....
Scientists have discovered thousands of planets orbiting other stars, so it takes a particularly exciting discovery to make discovering a new planet stand out. A recent announcement, however, might just meet that threshold: scientists found four gigantic planets orbiting around a newborn star, in a cosmic first.The star in question is called CI Tau, and lies around 500 light-years away from our own solar system. The star is around 2 million years old, which makes it practically a baby....
A group of scientists have developed a way to translate brain waves directly into human speech, potentially giving patients who are unable to use their voices another way to communicate. While the science is still a long way from a method that can be used as an interpreter for people who otherwise can’t talk, it’s a promising first step toward that goal.Researchers at Columbia University had convenient access to patients at Northshore University Hospital who were undergoing brain surgery, and asked a number of these patients to participate in their study....
Media Platforms Design TeamIf you’ve got $150 million to spare and want to take a trip around the moon, don’t wait for much longer—just one of the two seats that private space firm Space Adventures is selling for a proposed lunar flyby remains.Byron Lichtenberg, a payload specialist aboard the space shuttle missions STS-9 and STS-45, noted this today at the MIT conference “Earth, Air, Ocean and Space: The Future of Exploration....
If you’re shopping for the Star Trek fan who has everything, here’s one way to boldly go where few trekkers have gone before: real estate. A home that played a crucial role in a Season 3 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation is up for sale at a cool $5.7 million.Designed by California architect Ellis Gelman for his own use, the house is featured in the Next Generation episode “The Survivors....
Last year, Tesla announced it was producing an electric semi truck capable of carrying cargo across the country without burning any fossil fuels. While the vehicle itself is nowhere near ready for production, Elon Musk has claimed on Twitter that a prototype vehicle has already made that cross-country trek using the company’s existing Supercharger network.View full post on TwitterTesla’s Supercharger network is a series of fast charging stations designed to provide power to Tesla owners driving around the country, but they were never designed to supply the power needs of large vehicles like the Tesla semi....
If you want to weigh yourself on Earth, it’s a pretty easy procedure. All you have to do is stand on a scale, and the weight of your body is recorded with the scale’s mechanism. But how does this work in space? For astronauts on the ISS, measuring their weight takes a lot of creativity and specialized equipment.Youtuber SciShow takes a look at how ISS astronauts record how much they weigh while floating in zero-g:View full post on YoutubeMostly, the solution involves really big springs....
Once upon a time there were nine planets in our solar system. With the flyby of the now-dwarf planet Pluto on July 14, 2015, NASA has now seen all of them up close. So the space agency compiled a mini-collection of its first encounters with these worlds.MercuryMedia Platforms Design TeamMariner 10, launched in 1974, imaged Mercury throughout late 1974 and 1975.VenusMedia Platforms Design TeamNASA’s Mariner 10 mission took this shot of Venus on Feb....
Media Platforms Design TeamDrugs for Parkinson’s disease causing an addiction to gambling and sex? It may be because the medicine is affecting the brain’s pleasure center, according to a recent study byneuroscientistsUniversity of PittsburghProceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesgoal-directed behavior at the . Published in the current issue of , the study used anesthetized rats to identify an area in the brain stem that is critical to normal dopamine function....
Media Platforms Design TeamOn-Sale: June 2014 Base Price: $99,895Competitors: Audi RS7, BMW M5, Mercedes-Benz E63 AMGPowertrain: Supercharged 5.0-liter V-8, 550 hp, 502 lb-ft; eight-speed automatic, RWDFuel Economy (city/hwy, est.): 14/22What’s New: Jaguar is hunting for the power-mad, hoping to lure at least 200 drivers for whom the pedestrian XFR, with its mere 510 hp, just isn’t enough. The XFR-S pushes performance beyond Jag’s usual R insanity right into the ludicrous zone....
At first glance, the stone structures in this picture look like massive flower pots or tunnels that lead to secret underground bunkers—both of which would be pretty neat. But it turns out the giant jars, which researchers recently discovered in Laos, served a much grimmer purpose: holding a bunch of dead bodies.Unfortunately, that’s just about all we know about them.The 10-plus-ton jars, which sit on burial grounds, were hand-carved. But given the limited tools available 2,500 years ago—their approximate age—researchers can’t figure out how the builders managed such feats of construction....
Recently, native reindeer populations have been on the rise in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard.A team of researchers spent three years walking across the tundra to gather data including population information and dispersal rates.While the reindeer population is healthy and thriving at the moment, several factors, including climate change, can wreak havoc on the fragile ecosystem and in turn, the animals.The Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard has become a haven for the native reindeer subspecies, Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus, who a mere 100 years ago, nearly went extinct....
Canadian builders have built a home out of more than 600,000 plastic water bottles.The builders broke down bottles and turned into foam that hardens when cooled. This foam was used to create the walls.The home is the first of its kind to ever be built.Canadian builders have created a new way to turn plastic waste into environmentally friendly housing. JD Composites, a construction company led by Joel German and David Saulnier, built a three-bedroom home along the Meteghan River in Nova Scotia from more than 600,000 plastic water bottles—but you’d never guess it from just looking at the home....
