Comment Title change (Score 1) 1
I've just realized I misspelled 'Tesla' in the title. That should be edited to the proper name.
Submission + - Telsa Motors Unveils Model D Sedan (wired.com) 1
SchrodingerZ writes: Nine days after Elon Musk hinted about a new project, the P85D Sedan has been unveiled by Tesla Motors. The Model D is Tesla's latest car design, capable of feats not yet seen in electric vehicles. The four door luxury car is able to go from zero to 60 miles per hour in a mere 3.2 seconds, an acceleration similar to the McLaren F1 super car. While the exterior remains the same build as the Model S, the interior will have a second motor in the front of the car, to complement the rear motor. The D models will also have a slightly larger range of 275 miles on a single charge, 10 miles more than the 85 and P85 cars. The safety features have also been enhanced, adding "adaptive cruise control and the ability to read speed limit signs, stop itself if a crash is imminent, stay in its lane, and even park itself in a street spot or in your garage." Musk explains at the inaugural event, "this car is nuts. It’s like taking off from a carrier deck. It’s just bananas." The Model D is available for the 60kWh, 80kWh, and P85 cars, and are expected to start shipping in December of this year.
Submission + - Tetris to be Made into a Live Action Film (wsj.com)
SchrodingerZ writes: Threshold Entertainment has announced that it will be producing a live action film based on the Russian stacking game Tetris. Designed in 1984 by Alexey Pajitnov, Tetris has sold over 35 million copies worldwide. Threshold CEO Larry Kasanoff promises "a very big, epic sci-fi movie," explaining "this isn’t a movie with a bunch of lines running around the page. We’re not giving feet to the geometric shapes." Kasanoff is known for his work with the video game films 'Mortal Kombat', and 'Mortal Kombat: Annihilation,' collectively grossing $105 million in revenue. The studio is planning "a story behind ‘Tetris’ which makes it a much more imaginative thing,” though no directors nor cast have been connected to the film. Threshold Entertainement teased the idea, saying "What you [will] see in ‘Tetris’ is the teeny tip of an iceberg that has intergalactic significance."
Submission + - Expedition 42 ISS Crew Embrace Douglas Adams (space.com) 1
SchrodingerZ writes: In November of this year, the 42th Expedition to the International Space Station will launch, and the crew have decided to embrace their infamous number. NASA has released an image of the crew, mimicking the movie poster for The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, a film released in 2005, based on a book with the same name by Douglas Adams. Commander Butch Wilmore stands in the center as protagonist Arthur Dent, flight engineer Elena Serova as hitchhiker Ford Prefect, flight engineer Alexander Samokutyayev as antagonist Humma Kavula, astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti as Trillian, and flight engineers Terry Virts and Anton Shkaplerov as two-headed galactic president Zaphod Beeblebrox. The robotic "Robonaut 2" also stands in the picture as Marvin the depressed android. Cristoforetti, ecstatic to be part of this mission stated,"Enjoy, don't panic and always know where your towel is!" Wilmore, Serova and Samokutyayev blasted off September 25th for Expedition 41, the rest of Expedition 42 will launch November 23rd.
Submission + - NASA Appoints New Chief Scientist (space.com)
SchrodingerZ writes: Planetary Geologist Ellen Stofan, expert in the terrains of Venus, Mars, and Titan, has recently been appointed the Chief Scientist for the space agency. Stofan will act as the top adviser for Charles Bolden, NASA's current administer. Beginning August 25th, Stofan will be Bolden's head adviser for NASA's project planning and investments. She will replace former chief scientist Dr. Waleed Abdalati, who left his position to be the director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado. Stofan has both a masters and doctoral degree of geological sciences from Brown University, and is known for her involvement in the Applied Science Laboratory's project to put a boat on Saturn's moon Titan, as well as a member of the radar team for the Cassini spacecraft . Though joining in a time of large budget cuts, Bolden explains, that '[Stofan's] breadth of experience and familiarity with the agency will allow her to hit the ground running. We're fortunate to have her on our team.'
Submission + - Alpha Centauri Bb Given a Name (space.com) 1
SchrodingerZ writes: The nearest planet outside our solar system has recently been named Albertus Alauda. Originally named Alpha Centauri Bb, the planet is the closest known planet not orbiting the Sun, being a mere 4.3 light years away. The name comes from Jay Lark, who won the naming contest held by Uwingu starting last month and ending on April 22. Lark remarks that the name comes from the Latin name of his late grandfather, stating, "My grandfather passed away after a lengthy and valiant battle with cancer; his name in Latin means noble or bright and to praise or extol." The competition for naming the planet came from Uwing, a company which used the buying of name proposals and votes to fund grants for future space exploration ventures. Albertus Alauda won the competition with 751 votes, followed by Rakhat with 684 votes, and Caleo, with 622 votes.
Comment Re:Bad last link (Score 1) 341
Human error. I couldn't find a good link just about the Thunderbirds, so I opted for one that refereed to it.
Submission + - United States Navy Cancels Blue Angels Shows Due to Budget Cuts (cnn.com)
SchrodingerZ writes: The Blue Angels squadron, known for their intricate and death-defying aerial demonstrations, has canceled all scheduled air shows for the rest of the year. The United States Navy, which controls the Blue Angels, has reported that the grounding comes for the massive rollbacks in spending, due to the 85 billion dollar sequestration given by the federal government. In a statement from the office of the Commander Naval Air Forces in San Diego, the Navy, 'Recognizing budget realities, current Defense policy states that outreach events can only be supported with local assets at no cost to the government,' currently the cost of an air show is above 100,000 dollars. This story came just a week after the announcement by the Air Force that their Thunderbird shows will also be canceled.
Comment Noise at the beginning (Score 1) 85
I understand that the sound wave lowers pitch due two propagation over time (basically), I get that. But what were the fluctuation noises in the first 1-2 seconds of the sound bit?
Submission + - Doctor Who's Dalek Designer Dies at 84 (guardian.co.uk)
SchrodingerZ writes: "Raymond Cusick, a production designer for the BBC show Doctor Who from 1963 to 1966, has died from illness. 'Terry Nation, who died in 1997, wrote the 1963 story The Daleks, in which the "satanic pepperpots" first appeared, but it was Cusick who came up with the machines' distinctive look, including the bobble-like sensors, eyestalk, sucker and exterminator weapons.' His horrid creation has remained a prime enemy in Doctor Who for over 50 years, and have remained relatively unchanged. His tireless work however was never fully awarded, as his only pay for the project was about £100. Cusick also worked on such shows as Z Cars, Dr Finlay's Casebook and The Forsyte Saga to The Duchess of Duke Street, When the Boat Comes In and Rentaghost. He officially retired in 1987. Claire Heawood, Cusick's daughter has said that her father was 'suffering from an illness and died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday.'"
Submission + - Six of Hanford's Nuclear Waste Tanks Badly Leaking (seattletimes.com)
SchrodingerZ writes: "Recent review of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state (where the bulk of Cold War nuclear material was created) has found that six of its underground storage tanks are badly leaking. Estimations say each tank is leaking 'anywhere from a few gallons to a few hundred gallons of radioactive material a year'. Washington's governor, Jay Inslee said in a statement on Friday that 'Energy officials recently figured out they had been inaccurately measuring the 56 million gallons of waste in Hanford’s tanks.' The Hanford cleanup project has been one of the most expensive American projects for nuclear cleanup. Plans are in place to create a treatment plant to turn the hazardous material into less hazardous glass (proposed to cost $13.4 billion), but for now officials are trying just to stop the leaking from the corroded tanks. Today the leaks do not have an immediate threat on the environment, but 'there is [only] 150 to 200 feet of dry soil between the tanks and the groundwater', and are just five miles from the Colombia River."
Submission + - Swedish School Makes Minecraft Lessons Compulsory (gizmag.com)
SchrodingerZ writes: "The Viktor Rydberg school in Stockholm, Sweden, has announced that they have included Minecraft into the curriculum for their 13-year-old students. The program is not meant to teach children about math or language, but rather as a tool to inspire creativity in the classroom. ''They learn about city planning, environmental issues, getting things done, and even how to plan for the future,' Viktor Rydberg teacher Monica Ekman told English-language newspaper The Local. 'It's not any different from arts or woodcraft,' she added.'
Minecraft has been widely viewed as a tool to inspire at let people create their own cubic world. Whether it will hold up as part of a school curriculum will be an interesting test. This news also comes after the announcement for a free version of Minecraft set for the 'Raspberry Pi computer, itself an educational tool with enormous potential.'"
Minecraft has been widely viewed as a tool to inspire at let people create their own cubic world. Whether it will hold up as part of a school curriculum will be an interesting test. This news also comes after the announcement for a free version of Minecraft set for the 'Raspberry Pi computer, itself an educational tool with enormous potential.'"
Comment links didn't work (Score 1) 2
It appears my links weren't added for some reason. I added a link to the university of Cambridge source, and a link to kitco for the platinum price
Submission + - GRAIL Mission Video Released (gizmag.com)
SchrodingerZ writes: "A new video was released today by NASA from the GRAIL mission probes, which ended their mission last month, as they impacted the lunar surface. 'Dramatic' footage was captured by the probe Ebb on December 14th. The video was taken from the 'MoonKAM (Moon Knowledge Acquired by Middle school Students) cameras, it shows the view of Ebb flying at an altitude of 6 miles (10 km) above the Moon’s northern hemisphere in the vicinity of Jackson crater (22.4N 163.1W).' Two videos were released, one from the fore and one from the aft of the probe, showing a forwards and backwards time lapse containing 931 and 1,489 pictures each of the lunar terrain. The footage was part of the probes final systems check before they shut down and were sent into a controlled impact to a predetermined location."
Submission + - Previously Unseen Stage of Planet Formation Observed (yahoo.com)
SchrodingerZ writes: "Seen from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile; scientists have detected a gas giant planet focusing material from a gas cloud towards a main star. The star, HD 142527, is a young 2 million years old, and is 450 light-years from Earth. The system has 'A disk of spinning dust and gas left over from its formation... and from this material, planets are being created'. The planetesimals, are drawing material from the dust cloud inward, effectively fueling the expansion of the parent star, currently twice the size of our own Sun. 'Theoretical simulations have predicted such bridges between outer and inner portions of disks surrounding stars, but none have been directly observed until now.' Simon Casassus, lead scientist at the University of Chile, stated that 'Currently, the only mechanism known to produce such gap-crossing dense molecular flows, with residual carbon monoxide gas more diffusely spread out inside the gap, is planetary formation.' While the planets currently are not visible, their presence is very noticeable, more examination of the dust cloud is needed to precisely pinpoint the planet(s)."
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