SpaceX To Test Revolutionary Rocket's Sea-Legs With Drone Ship Landing

SpaceX is starting this year with a major step in one of its most ambitious projects, which could fundamentally change the economics of space-flight the reusable rocket that lands on its legs.

There are just a few reusable spacecraft in circulation at the moment, of which the SpaceX Dragon is one, and with good reason. The stresses of spaceflight are arduous enough, but its the re-entry into Earths atmosphere and subsequent landing somewhere that really trips the engineers up.

So far, the only way to successfully rescue a spacecraft has been to let it crash as gently as possible into an ocean to be recovered by waiting ships or have it land like an aeroplane, as with the Space Shuttle.

But Elon Musks SpaceX wants to take things a bit further. The tech entrepreneurs space venture will be boosting its fifth cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station tomorrow and when it does, it plans to attempt the precision landing of the Falcon 9 first stage rocket at the same time.

Autonomous spaceport drone ship for the Falcon 9 reusable rocket. Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX reusable rocket is a key feature of its ambitions to build the craft that will take the first people to Mars Mars and its also a technology that could revolutionise space travel, by making it so much cheaper.

The rocket is the most expensive bit of kit involved in a launch and its basically blown up to boost its payload into space, with whatevers left ejected into Earths orbit to clutter the place up with space debris or drift back to a fiery death in Earths atmosphere.

The Falcon 9, which has already had two successful soft water landings, will try something brand new, landing on legs on a custom-built ocean platform known as the autonomous spaceport drone ship.

SpaceX is only giving this first test of the technology a 50/50 chance of success, because theres a lot to get through before it touches down on that platform.

In order to land the 14-storey tall rocket precisely, the team needs to both stabilise it and slow it down, something the firm compares to .

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SpaceX To Test Revolutionary Rocket's Sea-Legs With Drone Ship Landing

How To Gauge the Age of a Star? It's all in the Spin

Keeping accurate time and determining age are two crucial, constant goals in science. In the 1700s the proof and construction of an elegant, precise maritime clock opened up much safer and more efficient ocean exploration and provided a way forward for more accurate mapping on Earth. Before then, mariners and astronomers alike were both, literally, at sea.

Likewise, until now, determining the age of stars has been equivalent only to saying that a person is young or old, and our guesses of someones age are typically off by as much as 15 percent. But by building on the work of others (as it goes in science) and carefully working out for over a decade how to construct a clock to measure the ages of stars, Sydney Barnes, of the Leibniz-Institut fuer Astophysik Potsdam (AIP), Germany, derived an elegant and extraordinary method he named gyrochronology to derive a stars age from its spin rate and its mass.

GALLERY: Top 10 Space Stories of 2014: Readers' Choice

Barnes named his method from the Greek gyros which equals rotation, chronos which means time and logos for study.

We here develop an improved way of using a rotating star as a clock, set it using the sun and demonstrate that it keeps time well, wrote Barnes in 2007 (PDF), but his work on this groundbreaking theory goes back to 2000.

Now, in a new study published in the journal Nature and announced today at the 225th American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle, Barnes and his colleagues have measured more than 20 sun-like stars believed to have identical ages, all belonging to a single a star cluster, and by showing that gyrochronology gives an age of 2.5 billion years for all of them to within 10 percent, have essentially proven the method beyond reasonable doubt.

In fact, the uncertainty on the gyro-age of the cluster as a whole is two percent, which means that the new clock is now more precise than the ones used to set it, said Barnes.

ANALYSIS: Smartest Aliens May Live Around Red Dwarf Stars

The studys team, led by Soren Meibom, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, in Cambridge, Mass., used NASAs Kepler Space Telescope to measure the tiny variations of starlight over days or weeks that are caused as dark spots on the surfaces of the stars are alternately revealed and hidden by the rotation.

These space telescope measurements represent the culmination of a hard slog for over a decade by Meibom, Barnes and the other co-authors using ground-based telescopes to acquire and analyze the required support observations, to develop the theoretical framework adequately and to measure and interpret other appropriate clusters for possible deviations.

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How To Gauge the Age of a Star? It's all in the Spin

Image: Space simulation chamber prepared for testing Webb telescope

7 hours ago Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn

This photo was captured from outside the enormous mouth of NASA's giant thermal vacuum chamber, called Chamber A, at Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Previously used for manned spaceflight missions, this historic chamber is now filled with engineers and technicians preparing a lift system that will be used to hold the James Webb Space Telescope during testing.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the scientific successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. It will be the most powerful space telescope ever built. Webb is an international project led by NASA with its partners, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.

Explore further: NASA's Webb Telescope mirror tripod in action (Video)

(Phys.org)A new photograph taken inside the giant clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., shows what looks like a giant Erector Set supporting a test component of the James ...

NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's X-ray and Cryogenic Test Facility recently received the James Webb Space Telescope's wings for testing.

Setting up NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's secondary mirror in space will require special arms that resemble a tripod. NASA recently demonstrated that test in a NASA cleanroom and it was documented in ...

(Phys.org)The Center of Curvature Optical Assembly, or COCOA, is a piece of equipment that will measure the accuracy of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's primary mirror, to ensure the mirrors are perfectly ...

(Phys.org)Testing of the James Webb Space Telescope's Center of Curvature Optical Assembly, or COCOA, recently was completed in the X-ray and Cryogenic Test Facility at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center ...

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Image: Space simulation chamber prepared for testing Webb telescope

White wine is actually red': experts

Brace yourselves, winos that chilled glass of Chardonnay youre sipping may look white, but its actually red, experts claim.

Scientists have discovered that white grapes contain the same pigments which give red wine its color, implying that white wine may technically not exist at all, NewScientist magazine reports.

What distinguishes red from white is that white wine grapes dont have anthocyanins, said Panagiotis Arapitsas of Italys Edmund Mach Foundation.

Blackberries and Raspberries also get their color from anthocyanins which are naturally colored pigments that represent a part of the protective mechanism of many plants, according to Food Research International.

While connoisseurs will surely be left scratching their heads, vitners and winemakers may finally have an answer as to why they occasionally wind up with a pinkish product.

Sometimes there were producers of white wines who collected white grapes and ended up with a slightly ros wine, Arapitsas said. Now they have some information about why that happened.

Up until now, wine experts believed that white grapes didnt contain anthocyanins. This explains why the wine would sometimes appear more white than red.

Using a process known as mass spectrometry, his team analyzed the skins of grapes from Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling grapes all used in the production of white wine, according to NewScientist.

Arapitsas and his colleagues found that white grapes did contain anthocyanins, but in concentrations several thousand times smaller than the red grape varieties such as Merlot. This is ultimately why the wine is still referred to as white.

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White wine is actually red': experts

NASAs inflatable heat shield: aeroshell inspired by a toy could one day help humans land on Mars – Video


NASAs inflatable heat shield: aeroshell inspired by a toy could one day help humans land on Mars
NASA is developing an inflatable heat shield it plans to test in 2016 that could one day be used to send astronauts to Mars. Designed by NASA #39;s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia,...

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NASAs inflatable heat shield: aeroshell inspired by a toy could one day help humans land on Mars - Video

NASA exploring inflatable spacecraft designs for future Mars missions

HAMPTON, N.Y., Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Slinging a fast-moving probe into orbit around a faraway planet is hard enough; landing a hefty, astronaut-carrying spacecraft on an alien surface is beyond difficult.

But doing just that -- on Mars -- is exactly what NASA hopes to do in the coming decade. To do so successfully, NASA engineers are considering employing an inflatable spacecraft that resembles the rainbow-colored, donut-like stacking rings that small children play with.

Researchers believe a lightweight inflatable structure -- the current prototype is dubbed the Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) -- could be deployed in order to slow the spacecraft's as it descends through the thin Martian air.

"We have been eating, sleeping, dreaming this technology -- in my case for six years," NASA scientist Anthony Calomino said last year at a project meeting.

"In a real spacecraft, a connected stack of donut rings would be inflated before entering a planet's atmosphere to slow the vehicle for landing," NASA explained in a blog update last summer. "The stacked-cone concept would allow NASA to land heavier payloads to the surface of the planet than is currently possible, and could eventually be used to deliver crews."

Slowing an alien descent with inflatables would save missions from carrying extra fuel to put on the brakes by using reverse rocket propulsion.

But one the challenges is building the inflatable technology out of materials that can withstand high temperatures caused by the friction of atmospheric reentry.

"This idea has actually been around since the 1960s," said Neil Cheatwood, the senior engineer at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. "But now we have materials that can withstand higher temperatures. We've made great strides with this technology."

Researchers plan to build and test a real life prototype consisting of a titanium frame and an underlining of carbon fire skin. It would be inflated with nitrogen.

2015 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

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NASA exploring inflatable spacecraft designs for future Mars missions

GAO denies Sierra Nevada protest of NASA contract

The Government Accountability Office on Monday denied Sierra Nevada Corps protest of a major NASA contract to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station, saying the agency acted properly in issuing the $6.8 billion award last year.

Last fall, NASA awarded contracts to Boeing and SpaceX to launch a series of missions that would allow the United States, for the first time since the space shuttle was retired three years ago, to launch astronauts into space from U.S. soil.

The so-called commercial crew contract would end Americans reliance on Russia, which has been taking American astronauts to the space station at a cost of more than $70 million a trip.

Boeings contract is worth up to $4.2 billion; SpaceX, which said it could perform the work for far less, was awarded a contract valued at $2.6 billion.

In its protest Sierra Nevada said that there had been serious questions and inconsistencies in the source selection process. Its own proposal was the second-lowest-priced, it argued, while it achieved mission suitability scores comparable to the other two proposals.

The company argued that by using its Dream Chaser vehicle the government could have saved up to $900 million.

Unlike SpaceX and Boeing, which would use capsules to dock to the space station, Sierra Nevada proposed using a reusable miniature shuttle, or space plane, called the Dream Chaser. The craft provides a wider range of capabilities and value, it had said.

In announcing the GAO decision, Ralph White, the agencys managing associate general counsel, said that NASA recognized Boeings higher price, but also considered Boeings proposal to be the strongest of all three proposals in terms of technical approach, management approach, and past performance, and to offer the crew transportation system with most utility and highest value to the government.

The agency also found several favorable features in Sierra Nevadas proposal, but ultimately concluded that SpaceXs lower price made it a better value.

Sierra Nevada is still evaluating the decision, the company said in a statement Monday. While the outcome was not what SNC expected we maintain our belief that the Dream Chaser spacecraft is technically very capable, reliable and was qualified to win based on NASAs high ratings of the space system.

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GAO denies Sierra Nevada protest of NASA contract

NASA Announces Briefing on New Mission to Track Water in Earths Soil

NASA will hold a media briefing at 2 p.m. EST Thursday, Jan. 8, in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters in Washington to discuss the upcoming Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission.

The briefings will be broadcast live on NASA Television and streamed on the agency's website.

SMAP, set for a Jan. 29 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, will provide the most accurate, highest-resolution global measurements of soil moisture ever obtained from space and will detect whether the ground is frozen or thawed. The data will be used to enhance scientists' understanding of the processes that link Earth's water, energy and carbon cycles.

The briefing participants are:

Christine Bonniksen, SMAP program executive with the Science Mission Directorates Earth Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington

Kent Kellogg, SMAP project manager with NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California

Dara Entekhabi, SMAP science team lead, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Brad Doorn, SMAP applications lead, Science Mission Directorates Applied Sciences Program at NASA Headquarters

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NASA Announces Briefing on New Mission to Track Water in Earths Soil

Hello Pluto! NASAs Visit to the Mystery World Begins

TIME Ideas space Hello Pluto! NASAs Visit to the Mystery World Begins I want to go to there: Pluto and three of its moons, photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope NASA; Getty Images A remarkable spacecraft approaches the solar system's ninth planet (and yes, it's a planet)

Its not exactly top secret, but it is too little known: This month, a small, robot spacecraftbuilt, launched, and guided by a team of over 2,500 Americanswill begin the exploration of far-away Pluto and its five known moons. Lasting from January through July, this epic journey is very much the Everest of planetary exploration.

Ive had the privilege of leading this NASA project since its inception 14 years ago, in 2001. Admittedly, that makes me something of a cheerleader for the missionbut its going to be icon of 21st century human achievement that well deserves cheering.

The last time a spacecraft reached a new planet was during NASAs exploration of Neptune by Voyager 2 back in 1989. When that happened, the Berlin Wall was still standing, Richard Marx and Milli Vanilli were topping the charts, and the Internet was almost unknown. (And by the way, I did just say that Pluto is a planet. It turns out that many planetary scientists, including me, think so. Thanks to New Horizons, you can soon judge for yourself. )

New Horizons already set records when it was launched in 2006 by becoming the fastest spacecraft to leave the Earthreaching the orbit of the Moon in just 9 hours, about 10 times more quickly than the Apollo spacecraft did. Now, after traveling at an average 39,000 mph speed (59,000 km/hour)equivalent to L.A. to New York in 4 minutesfor nine straight years, it is at last approaching its historic rendezvous. No spacecraft has ever ventured fartherthree billion miles (4.8 billion km)to reach its primary target.

At its closest approach, New Horizons will pass Pluto at a distance of just 6,000 miles (9,700 km). It will send back images at resolutions so high that if it were flying over New Yorks Central Park at the same altitude, it could count wharfs on the Hudson and ponds in Central Park. It will also take measurements of Plutos composition and atmosphere, study its moons, and more.

We know very little about Pluto, except that its interior is primarily made of rock, but its covered in ices and wrapped in an atmosphere made primarily of nitrogen, like Earths. Does it have mountain ranges? Is its surface young or old? Are there polar caps? Might there be liquids on the surface or oceans in its interior? Could there be cloud decks in its atmosphere? Erupting geysers? Does it have more moons yet to be discovered? We dont know the answers to any of these questionsbut we should know all of them soon.

And that matters. In 2003, The National Academy of Sciences ranked visiting the Pluto system at the very top of NASAs exploration priorities. Why? Because in the 1990s, planetary astronomers discovered a vast structure in our solar system, a previously unknown disk of comets and small planets out beyond Neptune, called the Kuiper Belt. Pluto was the first of many small planets discovered out there, and is still both the brightest and largest one known.

The Kuiper Belt is the largest mapped structure in our planetary system, three times as big as all the territory from the Sun out to Neptunes orbit. The comets and small planets that make it up are valuable because they represent the astronomical equivalent of an archeological dig, reaching back to the era of planet formation, 4.6 billion years ago.

Nothing like the exploration that New Horizons is about to undertake has happened in a generation, and nothing like it is planned or even contemplated to happen again: It is likely the last time in our lifetimes that a new planet will be explored. This is more than scientifically importantthough it certainly is that. Its also a reminder of what American technology, culture, and daring, on its game, can do.

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Hello Pluto! NASAs Visit to the Mystery World Begins

DNA origami could lead to nano 'transformers' for biomedical applications

VIDEO:Researchers at The Ohio State University are the first to prove that the same basic design principles that apply to typical full-size machine parts can also be applied to DNA... view more

Credit: Movie courtesy of The Ohio State University.

COLUMBUS, Ohio--If the new nano-machines built at The Ohio State University look familiar, it's because they were designed with full-size mechanical parts such as hinges and pistons in mind.

The project is the first to prove that the same basic design principles that apply to typical full-size machine parts can also be applied to DNA--and can produce complex, controllable components for future nano-robots.

In a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Ohio State mechanical engineers describe how they used a combination of natural and synthetic DNA in a process called "DNA origami" to build machines that can perform tasks repeatedly.

"Nature has produced incredibly complex molecular machines at the nanoscale, and a major goal of bio-nanotechnology is to reproduce their function synthetically," said project leader Carlos Castro, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. "Where most research groups approach this problem from a biomimetic standpoint--mimicking the structure of a biological system--we decided to tap into the well-established field of macroscopic machine design for inspiration."

"In essence, we are using a bio-molecular system to mimic large-scale engineering systems to achieve the same goal of developing molecular machines," he said.

Ultimately, the technology could create complex nano-robots to deliver medicine inside the body or perform nanoscale biological measurements, among many other applications. Like the fictional "Transformers," a DNA origami machine could change shape for different tasks.

"I'm pretty excited by this idea," Castro said. "I do think we can ultimately build something like a Transformer system, though maybe not quite like in the movies. I think of it more as a nano-machine that can detect signals such as the binding of a biomolecule, process information based on those signals, and then respond accordingly--maybe by generating a force or changing shape."

The DNA origami method for making nano-structures has been widely used since 2006, and is now a standard procedure for many labs that are developing future drug delivery systems and electronics. It involves taking long strands of DNA and coaxing them to fold into different shapes, then securing certain parts together with "staples" made from shorter DNA strands. The resulting structure is stable enough to perform a basic task, such as carrying a small amount of medicine inside a container-like DNA structure and opening the container to release it.

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DNA origami could lead to nano 'transformers' for biomedical applications

IASLC announces it will conduct multidisciplinary live education programs for molecular profiling lung cancer in 2015

DENVER - Implementation of molecular profiling is essential for the multidisciplinary team to effectively manage and care for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients now and well into the future.

The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) education teams will travel to various geographical locations within their regions in order to teach others the importance of and how to implement molecular testing using small group interactive learning sessions and hands-on approaches. The educational team will consist of medical oncologists, surgeons, pulmonologists, interventional radiologists, pathologists, nurses, laboratory personnel, molecular biologists, cytogeneticists, bioinformaticists and other scientists.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality for both men and women in the US and worldwide. Grouping all lung cancers together is no longer adequate for treatment-based decisions. Personalized medicine, treating the patient with therapies that are predicted to be effective based on the molecular characteristics of the tumor, can add years of life for those patients whose tumor harbor specific abnormalities and treated with a therapy specifically targeting this abnormality. Advanced-stage NSCLC patients with EGFR mutations or ALK rearrangements have a high response rate and increased progression-free survival when treated 1st-line with EGFR or ALK inhibitors, respectively, and within these categories there are approved agents. Testing for these two genomic alterations is now considered the standard of care for advanced-stage NSCLC. Additionally, these is a growing body of evidence from that supports the testing for other molecular aberrations (e.g. ROS1, BRAF, FGFR1, HER2, PIK3CA, MET and KRAS) as these are thought to be the oncogenic drivers of NSCLC and will be sensitive to therapies targeting these abnormalities.

The goal of IASLC's new program is to educate the multidisciplinary team on:

"About 225,000 new cases of lung cancer are diagnosed in the US every year. Molecular profiling of tumors from patients with lung cancer is crucial today for selecting the most optimal therapy," states Professor Fred R. Hirsch, MD, PhD, University of Colorado and CEO of IASLC. "IASLC is a global academic organization with a main focus of education for the lung cancer community, e. g. doctors, nurses, allied health personnel and the patients, about the most updated scientific knowledge and the standard of care for patients with lung cancer. This program is an important contribution to meet that goal, and we hope this program will reach many care-takers dealing with lung cancer, both in academic centers and in the communities."

"The IASLC has been on the forefront of promoting research and education related to lung cancer for over four decades," states Dr. Suresh Ramalingam, Chair of the IASLC Education Committee. "The overarching goal of this initiative is to ensure that every patient with lung cancer undergoes molecular testing according to the most recent guidelines in order to maximize clinical outcomes."

###

About the IASLC:

The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) is the only global organization dedicated to the study of lung cancer. Founded in 1974, the association's membership includes more than 4,000 lung cancer specialists in 80 countries. To learn more about IASLC please visit http://www.iaslc.org

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

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IASLC announces it will conduct multidisciplinary live education programs for molecular profiling lung cancer in 2015

Never mind the 'selfie stick' or the 'smart belt' here are some REALLY useful inventions

The selfie stick: makes you look like a shallow, awful clown. Photograph: Alamy

This week its the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, an annual opportunity for tech companies to unveil their latest gizmos during Januarys traditional slow news week, thereby picking up precious coverage that might otherwise be spent detailing something anything more important than an egg whisk with a USB port in the side.

At the time of writing, the show is yet to kick off, although some of the offerings have already been unveiled such as Belty, the worlds first smart belt, which monitors your waistline and tells you when its time to lose weight, just like a mirror or a close friend might. More excitingly, it adjusts to your girth (again, like a close friend might), and will tighten or loosen itself according to your current level of blubber. No word yet on whether its possible to pop a Belty round your neck and order it to squeeze you into the afterlife, but theres no reason they cant incorporate that feature in Belty 2.0, except maybe on basic ethical, moral and humanitarian grounds.

According to Bertrand Duplat, whose company manufactures the Belty, the belt experience hasnt changed in centuries, which is a) true but b) wasnt formerly a problem worth solving, and also c) how does doing up a belt qualify as an experience anyway?

There will be more announcements over the next few days 5K televisions, a new Sony Walkman, sentient toothpicks that dream of a better life while they prise flecks of half-chewed poultry from your gums but none will beat the following far more exciting products Ive just made up for the sheer giddy thrill of it. Three, two, one. Commence:

Last year brought widespread acceptance of the selfie stick a stick you clamp your smartphone into so you can take a narcissistic self-portrait at a slightly greater distance than your feeble human arms will allow. Whats odd about the selfie stick is that while it might faintly improve the photo youll post on Facebook, it definitely makes you seem like a shallow, awful clown to any bystanders in the humdrum physical space youre posing in. And its unnecessary anyway, because if youre the sort of person who takes so many self-portraits youll consider spending money on a selfie stick, its a cast-iron certainty that absolutely no one needs or wants to see another photograph of you ever again. Until the invention of the Selfpreciator, that is. The Selfpreciator is a quasi-sentient head-shaped device with one giant eye and a fixed grin, programmed to gaze approvingly at every self-portrait you upload while issuing appreciative murmurs and tweeting encouraging emojis your way. Its even got its own selfie stick, so it can take photographs of itself admiring photographs of you, then email them to you, so you can ignore them while adjusting your selfie stick.

As 2015 dawns, Britain seems more divided than ever. But theres one thing we can all agree on: we just dont see enough of Nigel Farage. Sometimes you can eat an entire Twix without seeing a photograph of him raising a pint and guffawing or hearing his voice on the radio. Total Farage Plus is a tiny chip almost painlessly inserted into the back of your mind using a knitting needle and a croquet mallet. Once in place and booted-up, it hijacks the signal to your visual cortex, skilfully Photoshopping Farage into whatever youre looking at. Enjoying a glorious sunset? Itll be even better with Farages face peeping over the horizon. Bathing your kids? Nigels here too, with a cheeky blob of bath foam perched on his lovable nose! Staring into the eyes of the one you love? Thats not your own reflection gazing back at you its Farage. Kicking a foreigner to death? Whos that standing beside you, delivering the final blow with his steel-toe boots, real ale sloshing from the pint hes still holding in one hand, a lusty guffaw bursting from his wobbly amphibian throat? Its Farage again! What a card!

Our metropolises are blighted by two problems: a lack of public transport and a lack of public loos. This solves both issues in one fell swoop: a driverless biofuel vehicle and toilet cubicle in one. Step in, sit down, tap in the target postcode with your nose (more hygienic than fingers), then simply let go and defecate, secure in the knowledge that the supersmart vehicle is converting your excretions into fuel as it expertly navigates the city streets, allowing you to arrive at your destination as empty-bummed as you are relaxed. NB to prevent terrorism and/or mobile cottaging, the entire thing is made of completely transparent glass, and has a maximum speed of 1mph.

A small handheld device that enables you to leap forward in time without even realising youre doing it. Simply pull the small rectangular device out of your pocket midway through an episode of Call the Midwife or a dinner party or a wedding or something, intending to glance at it for mere seconds, then gasp in astonishment as you look up apparently moments later to discover an hours flown by and you havent heard or seen anything thats happened in your immediate vicinity in that time. Twist: youve already got one of these. DIDNT SEE THAT COMING, DID YOU? #christ #jesus #mindblown #wow

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Never mind the 'selfie stick' or the 'smart belt' here are some REALLY useful inventions

Get off of my Cloud Verizon tells users ahead of 48-hour maintenance outage

Verizon Cloud will be down for maintenance for up to 48 hours next weekend and virtual machines hosted there will be inoperable, all to enable the introduction of unnamed improvements.

At the time of writing, Verizon's Cloud Client Care page does not mention the outage, but users have emitted Tweets (such as the one below) in which they express a little incredulity about the need for the temporary shutdown.

The Reg asked Verizon to confirm the outage and it responded by sending us following statement:

In a long and testy thread following the Tweet we've embedded above, a number of users and commentators wonder if it is acceptable to take a cloud down for even a few minutes, never mind at least 24 hours.

Verizon acquired its cloud from Terremark back in 2011 and has since outlined plans to build its own platform based on Xen and CloudStack.

That its rig requires 24 hours or more of maintenance is at odds with cloud vendors' usual approach of effortless upgrade, downtime in tiny doses and lots of snappy patter about agility and letting IT staff innovate instead of being stuck keeping the lights on.

Perhaps Verizon's new features will deliver that experience. For now, the company's delivering an oddity that's got chins wagging.

Sponsored: Todays most dangerous security threats

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Get off of my Cloud Verizon tells users ahead of 48-hour maintenance outage

North Texas Family Medicine Plano Wonderful Five Star Review by Chowderbug W… – Video


North Texas Family Medicine Plano Wonderful Five Star Review by Chowderbug W...
http://www.ntxfm.com/ (972) 599-2567 North Texas Family Medicine Plano reviews New Rating I have been seeing Dr. Kaplan a little over 5 years now. He is a wonderful, caring...

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