Aircraft of the future may not look significantly different from today’s aircraft, but a peek “under the hood” will reveal technologies that are vastly different. Commercial aviation giants such as Boeing and Airbus — in addition to NASA and academia — are developing breakthrough airframe, propulsion, materials, and cabin designs that will help aircraft of the future fly quieter, cleaner, and more fuel-efficiently, with enhanced passenger comfort.
Monthly Archives: June 2011
LulzSec Hackers Finally Explain Themselves
From Forbes - Tech:
The mischievous hacking group LulzSec has posted an unusually serious statement to mark their 1,000th tweet, and for the first time it explains in some detail why they've gone on a month-and-a-half long hacking spree claiming the likes of PBS, SonyPictures.com, and an
Giant Catfish Caught in Thailand Sets New Record
From Discovery News - Top Stories:
The 260-pound monster took an hour for Welsh fisherman David Kent to reel in.
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9 Industrial Behemoths That Are Probably Here To Destroy Us
From DVICE:
As it turns out, monsters are real. They're the size of city blocks, made of metal, and probably hanging out not too far from where you live.
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GM Wants You to Pay More for Gas
Do you think that gas isn't getting to $5 a gallon fast enough? GM CEO Dan Akerson seems to. In fact, he told Detroit News the other day that a $1 per gallon hike in gas taxes would "encourage buyers to purchase smaller, more fuel efficient cars."
A little context: automakers would rather do
How Plastic Bottles Are Really Recycled
From Gizmodo:
I love recycling. I mean, it's the duty of every responsible citizen of Earth to leave your recyclables on the corner every Monday and Friday for the Recycling Fairy. She takes it away and turns it into fun, new-wait. Are we sure that's right?
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An Entire Day Captured in One Photo
From Gizmodo:
German photographer Peter Langehahn has a unique approach to photography that literally captures all the memorable moments in a day.
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Gamer to Racing Driver in 3 years
From BBC News - Technology:
Lucas Ordonez won a gaming competiton to train as a professional race car driver.
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Are You Going Wireless or Using More Cable?
A recent study found that the average U.S. home has more than 550 feet of cable connecting devices such as televisions, computers, alarms, and even wireless routers. While many of these products have wireless interfaces, the study found that homes require five times more cabling than they did in the
U.S. Military to Secure Cloud Computing
The U.S. DoD has committed to a "cloud-first" policy, through which federal agencies identify three current systems that could utilize cloud computing and also consider that option for new projects. As a result, DARPA is addressing vulnerabilities to make cloud computing more secure. It's expected t
Caption This for 06/17/11
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Brain Preservation Foundation featured in the latest Cryonics Magazine
The new issue of Cryonics Magazine features an article by Ken Hayworth, president of the Brain Preservation Foundation, in which he explains the thinking behind his organization's Technology Prize.
The prize, says Hayworth, draws inspiration from both the Ansari X-Prize, which incentivized the development of low-cost manned spacecrafts for use in the commercial space industry, and the as-yet-unclaimed James Randi Educational Foundation's Paranormal Challenge Prize, which challenges individuals claiming paranormal abilities to demonstrate them and win $1,000,000. In the spirit of those prizes, Hayworth believes the Technology Prize will both accelerate the development of low-cost, high-quality whole brain preservation technologies and legitimize these technologies for neuroscientists, who have so far been skeptical of cryopreservation and related techniques.
The issue also contains a response to Hayworth's article written by Alcor representative Mike Perry.
Download the complete issue of Cryonics Magazine here. For more information on the Brain Preservation Foundation and the Technology Prize, visit http://www.brainpreservation.org.
Adam Curtis’s All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace
Adam Curtis' new documentary mini-series is now airing on the BBC: All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace. The series will investigate the role of technology in politics, economics, and self identity.
In the first episode, Love and Power, Curtis tracks the effects of Ayn Rand's ideas on American financial markets, particularly via the influence on Alan Greenspan.
Be sure to check out Curtis's other docs, especially The Trap, The Power of Nightmares, and The Century of the Self.
Museums: cemeteries!
TJ Norris and Scott Wayne Indiana, M_US__EUM, 2007
via D.T. of Pictures That Like Me
Museums: cemeteries!… Identical, surely, in the sinister promiscuity of so many bodies unknown to one another. Museums: public dormitories where one lies forever beside hated or unknown beings. Museums: absurd abattoirs of painters and sculptors ferociously slaughtering each other with color-blows and line-blows, the length of the fought-over walls!
Musei: cimiteri!… Identici, veramente, per la sinistra promiscuità di tanti corpi che non si conoscono. Musei: dormitori pubblici in cui si riposa per sempre accanto ad esseri odiati o ignoti! Musei: assurdi macelli di pittori e scultori che varino trucidandosi ferocemente a colpi di colori e di linee, lungo le pareti contese!
Musées, cimetières!… Identiques vraiment dans leur sinistre coudoiement de corps qui ne se connaissent pas. Dortoirs publics où l’on dort à jamais côte à côte avec des êtres hais ou inconnus. Férocité réciproque des peintres et des sculpteurs s’entre-tuant à coups de lignes et de couleurs dans le même musée.
- Fondazione e Manifesto del Futurismo, 1909
Alcoa, RUSNANO and Holding IDGC Sign Memorandum of Intent to Produce Nanocoatings for Power Transmission Grids
Alcoa, OJSC RUSNANO and JSC Holding Interregional Distribution Grid Companies (JSC Holding IDGC) signed today a Memorandum of Intent to establish a joint venture for the development and production of nanocoatings.
Previously unknown and unexpected mechanism gives rise to superconductivity in specific types of materials
The debate over the mechanism that causes superconductivity in a class of materials called the pnictides has been settled by a research team from Japan and China.
Team reports scalable fabrication of self-aligned graphene transistors, circuits
UCLA researchers report that they have developed a scalable approach to fabricating these high-speed graphene transistors.
Beneq Launches Roll-to-Roll ALD System for Wide Flexible Substrates
Following the pioneering work in spatial atomic layer deposition and the launch of the revolutionizing research and development tool TFS 200R for continuous ALD in 2009, Beneq has closed the deal for a roll-to-roll ALD system, the Web Coating System WCS 500.
RUSNANO to Invest in High Tensile Strength Sawing Wire for Solar Energy and Microelectronics
RUSNANO and company Terwingo have signed an investment agreement for construction of Russia's first factory to manufacture a distinctive steel wire for cutting silicon and sapphire. The wire is a key consumable in the production of solar battery elements and microelectronic units.
Graphene may gain an ‘on-off switch’, adding semiconductor to its capabilities
A team of researchers has proposed a way to turn the material graphene into a semiconductor, enabling it to control the flow of electrons with a laser "on-off switch".