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Submission + - Test submission

Submitted by
vroom
vroom writes: "Testing please ignore"

Submission + - t

Submitted by
vroom
vroom writes: "hjhj"
Communications

Gmail Marks Five Years In Beta 194

Posted by timothy from the total-up-5-years-of-unread-messages dept.
TrekkieTechie writes "Though in fact the big day was April 1st, Google celebrated the five-year anniversary of the popular online email service Gmail with a post on the service's blog, saying 'we want to give a big thank you to all of you who use Gmail every day, to those who've been around since the beginning, to those who were using an AJAX app before the term AJAX was popular, to those who started chatting right in your email ... we couldn't have gotten here without you.' The milestone has also prompted speculation about when, if ever, Gmail will lose its beta status, and Ars Technica recently sat down with Todd Jackson, Gmail's Project Manager, to discuss the reasoning behind that nagging beta label."
Transportation

Submission + - Sideskirts Cut Truck Trailer Fuel Use by 15 %

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "Researchers in the Netherlands have created an improved aerodynamic shape for truck trailers by mounting sideskirts that can lead to a cut in fuel consumption and emissions of up to 15%. Sideskirts are plates that are mounted on the sides of trailers to reduce the air currents alongside and under the trailer reducing the air resistance. The sideskirts can be fitted to approximately half the trucks currently in use in the Netherlands and it is expected that the cost of fitting aerodynamically-shaped sideskirts will be recouped within two years. Road tests are also underway on boat tails mounted on the rear of trailers to produce a reduction in the wake, the vacuum and air currents that arise when the trailer is moving. In theory, a boat tail could also mean a cut in air resistance of 30%, with a fuel reduction of 10 — 15%."
Mars

Submission + - Asteroid to hit Mars ?

Submitted by
mbone
mbone writes: "Apparently the Near Earth Object (NEO) program has found an asteroid that may impact Mars on January 30th. The current probability is one in 75, which is pretty high a month out. Estimated energy release if it does impact Mars is in the multiple megaton range.

If it does hit Mars, then we should have quite a show, with all of the spacecraft orbiting and landed on the planet. Of course, it is possible that this is an old, failed, spacecraft from decades ago, which would also be interesting, if not as spectacular."
Space

Submission + - New satellite saving technique banks millions (networkworld.com)

Submitted by
coondoggie
coondoggie writes: "A new technique to save aging satellites promises to save millions of dollars by extending the life of communications spacecraft. A process developed by researchers from Purdue University and Lockheed Martin has already saved $60 million for unnamed broadcasters by extending the service life of two communications satellites. In a nutshell the technique works by applying an advanced simulation and a method that equalizes the amount of propellant in satellite fuel tanks so that the satellite consumes all of the fuel before being retired from service. Some aging communications satellites are each equipped with four fuel tanks. If one of the tanks empties before the others, the satellite loses control and should be decommissioned, wasting the remaining fuel in the other tanks. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/19119"
Robotics

Robot Aims To Walk On Water 125

Posted by kdawson from the run-actually dept.
qeorqe writes "CMU researchers are developing a robot that runs across water (PDF). It is modeled after the basilisk lizard, which has that rare ability. The researchers have done both computer simulations and experiments with test models."

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