Media Platforms Design TeamIf you’ve ever signed up for an account or bought anything online, chances are you’ve had to fill out a CAPTCHA. It’s that small box that asks you to type in a few words or a series of characters that have been distorted in an image (sometimes to a point you can’t really tell what they are.) The idea is that machines can’t read the letters and numbers, making this a good way to prove you are in fact not a robot....
Media Platforms Design TeamThis spring PM got to drive the Mitsubishi i, the company’s tiny, futuristic EV offering. As we’d learned from driving a Nissan Leaf, it’s not easy to get used to managing the limited range of an electric car. But we had a leg up on being responsible EV owners—a 240-volt Level 2 charger we’d installed while driving the Leaf. Or so we thought. Although our charger fit onto the Mistubishi, it wouldn’t charge the car....
View full post on YoutubeEverybody poops. Even astronauts. Even the Apollo astronauts.Given that most of the Apollo missions stayed on the Moon for about a day, it stands to reason that the men who walked at some point had to do their business. They did, and they left it behind—about 96 bags of it. Future space archaeologists are sure to find bags of urine, feces and … um … the contents of nauseated stomachs when humans return to the Moon some day....
Media Platforms Design TeamMedia Platforms Design Team Today, a 4-inch-long smartphone holds as much processing power as a desktop PC from five years ago—or a warehouse-bound computer from just a few decades prior. But Moore’s law moves far faster than evolution, and no matter how small processors and memory chips shrink, human hands remain the same size. Even if pocket-size computers are technologically capable of serving as our primary go-anywhere PC, their tiny keyboards and small screens present ergonomic problems....
This table, designed in the ’20s, is generally attributed to Jean-Michel Frank, a French designer and decorator associated with Parsons School of Design inNew York City. But the Parsons table, as we call it today, has become an American classic not because of a cultured lineage, but simply because its timeless charm fits just about anywhere. It is, in fact, the essence of tableness – a distillation of primary components rendered in seamless flat planes, parallel lines and right angles....
Disease and Climate ChangeAntibiotics, antibiotic resistant bacteria and emerging pathogens like E. coli–these are the biggest threats to a clean water supply, according to Joan B. Rose, the director of the Center for Water Sciences at Michigan State University. Rose, a microbiologist, said our aging water purification systems have a tough time keeping up with not only the increasing number of water-borne threats, but also with the increasing number of vulnerable citizens....
If the old adage “getting there is half the fun” is true, than this is what it looks like. Hotel chain Four Seasons unveiled its entry into the lucrative private jet sector with an exquisitely designed Boeing 757 that rivals Emirates’ first class cabins.On the outside, the plane is painted in sleek black with the Four Seasons iconic tree logo gracing its tail. Its interior features 52 completely lie-flat seats, which is way fewer than the 233 seats that are typically packed into their rivals....
Neil Harbisson is an artist who’s been completely colorblind his whole life. He’s also a cyborg. Harbisson has an antenna jutting out of his head that allows him to sense colors. Specifically, he hears them. The flexible antenna senses the light frequencies in front of it and then sends them to a computer chip that turns the light into sound and sends the vibrations directly into Harbisson’s skull.Harbisson, who has a condition called achromatopsia that allows him to see only grays, black, and white, had his first antenna was implanted in 2004....
Motorcycles are contrary forms of transportation. People who ride them, by and large, don’t want to be confused with SUV owners. They’re bikers. And a beefy V-twin cruiser dripping with chrome and oozing machismo is the poster child for that rebel attitude. It’s no surprise that cruiser sales represent the lion’s share, about 50 percent, of a booming motorcycle market. But an old-school (read: modestly performing) cruiser just isn’t edgy enough for some....
Media Platforms Design TeamIn the home—as in life—it’s often the little things that matter. And it’s amazing how many small structural things can go wrong around your house. Whether it’s the front-door lock that won’t let you into your own home, or the cracked window that won’t keep the cold out, small household problems can have a big effect. For most of these, there’s no need to call for a repairman— the solution lies in tapping your ingenuity and using a few common household materials in innovative ways....
Billions of years ago, Mars lost its atmosphere, and with it went Mars’s once prolific assemblage of liquid water lakes and streams. Yet even without an atmosphere, the Red Planet hasn’t always been as bone dry as it is today. A new discovery suggests that as recently as a mere 500,000 years ago, certain nooks on Mars had far more active, flowing water than scientists had imagined. A research team led by Tjalling de Haas, a physical geographer at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, has just completed their scientific study on a one-million-year-old Martian crater called Istok, which appears today in Nature Communications....
High Dynamic Range (HDR) ImagingMedia Platforms Design TeamPhoto courtesy of Unified ColorWhat It IsHigh Dynamic Range or HDR imaging is a technique which combines several photos into one shot to increase an image’s “dynamic range.” Dynamic range is the level of exposure between the light and dark areas of an image; so photos with low dynamic range have dark shadows and bright highlights, while those with high dynamic range have luminance that’s evenly balanced, with extra detail....
Price: $189.99 (exclusively at Target)Got a little race fan in training? The plush Advance 70 child car seat, engineered to have extra side-impact protection, packs safety tech that hails straight from the Brickyard.Since 2009 many of the car seats from Safety 1st have used the company’s Air Protect side-impact bolsters. The system adds air pads, put through testing at Kettering University’s Crash Safety Center, which are designed to release a precise amount of air in a side-impact collision, cushioning the child’s head and neck area....
via eBay DealsDo you pronounce data as “day-tuh,” or “dah-tuh?” Do you say “flash drive” or “thumb drive?” Are you the one who’s been saying “wiffy” instead of “Wi-fi?“The folks at Ebay Deals wanted to know how Americans pronounce common technological terms. So they surveyed more than 1000 Americans from age 18 to 45 and asked them to explain how they pronounce common terms of digital life. The team started by giving out a group of questions to 200 participants....
Media Platforms Design TeamMonticello, NY—On the heels of the CTS Sedan, the CTS and CTS-V Coupe share the sedan’s platform and drivetrain in a two-door package that’s shorter vertically and longitudinally as well as wider. The 2+2 Coupe’s design carries through the concept car that was introduced at the Detroit auto show in January 2008. Cadillac intends the CTS family to appeal to an entirely new segment of buyers who have traditionally preferred European styling, performance and handling attributes....
Media Platforms Design TeamOn-Sale Date: NowBase Price: $119,150 to $200,150Competitors: Ferrari 458 Italia, Lamborghini Gallardo, Porsche 911Powertrains: 4.2-liter V-8, 430 hp, 316 lb-ft; 5.2-liter V-10, 525 or 550 hp, 391 or 298 lb-ft; six-speed manual or seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, AWDEPA Fuel Economy (city/hwy): 11–14/20–23 (V-8); 12–13/19–22 (V-10)What’s New: Audi updates the R8’s appearance with new LED headlights and taillights, a revised grille, redesigned sideview mirrors, round exhausts, and a new rear underbody diffuser....
Hot ProblemQ: I have a 2007 Hyundai Azera. The dealer replaced the battery last spring, and it’s already dead. Also, the dealer says that batteries don’t really last in Florida. Even if that’s true, a year or less seems like an awfully short life span for a battery. A: I’m going to assume the dealer has checked out your charging system and given it a clean bill of health. As far as his assertion that batteries don’t last in Florida, he’s sort of right....
Largest Freefall Formation: 400 peopleThe mass group jumped from five Royal Thai Air Force C-130s over Udon Thani, Thailand in 2006. Donning red, white and blue jump suits, the divers, who hailed from 31 countries, had about 80 seconds to form a flower-like arrangement in the sky. At over 23,000 ft., it was dubbed one of the most difficult mass-skydives ever attempted. Longest Canopy Piloting Distance: 494 ft.Canopy piloting or “swooping” is the art of flying at a horizontal angle from the ground while coming in for a landing....
Inspiration is great, but sometimes a researcher needs raw computing power–the digital equivalent of a three-stage rocket engine blasting into the sky–to achieve a scientific breakthrough. But booking time on the world’s fastest computers isn’t easy. That’s why the U.S. Department of Energy, owner of two of the world’s top 10 fastest computers, is giving away time on seven machines at several of their sites, including the ranking supercomputers at Lawrence Livermore National Lab in California and Oak Ridge National Lab in Tennessee....
The assault begins from eight miles away. NATO troops, dug in snugly in fortified positions, are targeted by a barrage of satellite-guided artillery shells that pick off one bunker after another. As the enemy grows closer, anti-tank missiles blow the turrets off Western tanks, exploding them like roman candles. Laser-guided shells pin the defenders in the trenches. NATO forces return fire, destroying a handful of enemy tanks, but nobody crawls out of the burning wrecks alive....
