Archive for August, 2016
New Zealand: Domino’s to Test Pizza Delivery Drones
August 24th, 2016Via: NZ Herald: Aerial pizza delivery may sound futuristic but Domino’s has been given the green light to test New Zealand pizza delivery via drones. The fast food chain has partnered with drone business Flirtey to launch the first commercial drone delivery service in the world, starting later this year.
Proxima b: Planet Found in Habitable Zone Around Nearest Star, ‘Temperature Suitable for Liquid Water to Exist on Its Surface’
August 24th, 2016Via: European Southern Observatory: Astronomers using ESO telescopes and other facilities have found clear evidence of a planet orbiting the closest star to Earth, Proxima Centauri. The long-sought world, designated Proxima b, orbits its cool red parent star every 11 days and has a temperature suitable for liquid water to exist on its surface. This […]
Many Donors to Clinton Foundation Met with Her at State
August 24th, 2016Related: Clinton Cash: Via: AP: More than half the people outside the government who met with Hillary Clinton while she was secretary of state gave money — either personally or through companies or groups — to the Clinton Foundation. It’s an extraordinary proportion indicating her possible ethics challenges if elected president. At least 85 of […]
US Air Force Wants to Plasma Bomb the Sky Using Tiny Satellites
August 23rd, 2016Via: New Scientist: CAN you hear me now? The US Air Force has plans to improve radio communication over long distances by detonating plasma bombs in the upper atmosphere using a fleet of micro satellites. Since the early days of radio, we have known that signals that cannot be picked up by day may be […]
Germany to Tell People to Stockpile Food and Water in Case of Attacks
August 22nd, 2016Via: Reuters: For the first time since the end of the Cold War, the German government plans to tell citizens to stockpile food and water in case of an attack or catastrophe, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper reported on Sunday. Germany is currently on high alert after two Islamist attacks and a shooting rampage by […]
Everyday ‘Placebo Buttons’ Create Semblance of Control
August 21st, 2016Via: 99% Invisible: Late for work in Manhattan, you push the crosswalk button and curse silently at the slowness of the signal change. You finally get a green light, cross the street, arrive at the office, get in the elevator and hit the close door (>|
Casino Tycoon Launches Multimillion-Dollar PSYOP to Boost Israel’s Image on Campuses
August 21st, 2016Via: Los Angeles Times: Robert Gardner rarely heard anything about Israel growing up in South Los Angeles. But at UCLA, he started learning about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — and seeing parallels with conflicts close to home. The African American senior likened Israeli crackdowns on Palestinian protesters to police violence against black Americans. So he joined […]
U.S. Army Fudged Its Accounts by Trillions of Dollars
August 19th, 2016Via: Reuters: The United States Army’s finances are so jumbled it had to make trillions of dollars of improper accounting adjustments to create an illusion that its books are balanced. The Defense Department’s Inspector General, in a June report, said the Army made $2.8 trillion in wrongful adjustments to accounting entries in one quarter alone […]
MIT Spinout’s Lithium Metal Battery Doubles Power Density vs. Lithium Ion
August 19th, 2016Batteries for the drone market ship in late 2016. Consumer electronics, early 2017. Electric cars, 2018. Via: MIT News: Putting these new batteries in electric vehicles as well could represent “a huge societal impact,” Hu says: “Industry standard is that electric vehicles need to go at least 200 miles on a single charge. We can […]
Organisms Might Be Quantum Machines
August 18th, 2016Via: BBC: [Quantum effects] might be at work behind some very familiar processes, from the photosynthesis that powers plants – and ultimately feeds us all – to the familiar sight of birds on their seasonal migrations. Quantum physics might even play a role in our sense of smell.
