Archive for the 'Technology' Category
Why, Where & How to Do Wind Electricity
April 16th, 2016Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — As New Zealand’s electricity cartel ramps up the war on solar power, I’m starting to take a more serious look at the end game: Disconnection from the grid. While I’m not sure how I want to handle this yet, one thing is certain: Wind power […]
Pentagon Touts “Loyal Wingman” for Combat Jets
April 15th, 2016If your trillion dollar F-35 boondoggle can’t fight, why not throw a magic-8 ball brain into older fighters that can? Via: Flightglobal: US Air Force plans to insert a “brain” into current-generation fighter jets to create autonomous flying wingmen paired with the Lockheed Martin F-35 were given a bump today, with the Pentagon’s second-in-charge saying […]
‘Wow!’ Signal Could be Explained After Almost 40 Years
April 15th, 2016Via: Guardian: He didn’t find aliens but he did find two suspicious looking comets. Known as 266P/Christensen and 335P/Gibbs, they have never been investigated before because they were only discovered in 2006 and 2008 respectively. Paris found that they were both in the vicinity of Chi Sagittarii on the day that the ‘Wow!’ signal was […]
Canadian Police Have Had Master Key to BlackBerry’s Encryption Since 2010
April 14th, 2016Via: Vice: A high-level surveillance probe of Montreal’s criminal underworld shows that Canada’s federal policing agency has had a global encryption key for BlackBerry devices since 2010. The revelations are contained in a stack of court documents that were made public after members of a Montreal crime syndicate pleaded guilty to their role in a […]
The Plan to Send Featherweight Robotic Spacecraft to the Nearest Star at One-Fifth of the Speed of Light
April 13th, 2016100 billion-watt laser??? Via: Guardian: In an unprecedented boost for interstellar travel, the Silicon Valley philanthropist Yuri Milner and the world’s most famous cosmologist Stephen Hawking have announced $100m (£70m) for research into a 20-year voyage to the nearest stars, at one fifth of the speed of light. Breakthrough Starshot – the third Breakthrough initiative […]
New Zealand: Solar Tax, “Desperate Move to Squeeze Every Last Dollar Out of a Dying Business Model”
April 9th, 2016Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — They’re going to gouge people while battery prices are still high. The NZ electricity cartel knows it only has a couple of years left to screw people before grid defection sweeps over this place like a tsunami. In the meantime, get used to hearing about […]
Google Owned Schaft Unveils New Bipedal Robot
April 9th, 2016Via: IEEE: Right now, the New Economic Summit (NEST) 2016 conference is going on in Tokyo, Japan. One of the keynote speakers is Andy Rubin. Rubin was in charge of Google’s robotics program in 2013, when the company (now Alphabet) acquired a fistful of some of the most capable and interesting robotics companies in the […]
Crewless ‘Drone Ships’ Will be Sailing the Seas by 2020
April 9th, 2016Via: Telegraph: Remote-controlled “drone ships” will be plying the sealanes without crews on board by the end of the decade, according to Rolls-Royce. The FTSE 100 company best known for its aircraft engines is heading a consortium working to develop the technology needed for ships controlled from land bases, making them cheaper to run. “This […]
CIA’s Venture Capital Arm Is Funding Skin Care Products That Collect DNA
April 8th, 2016Via: The Intercept: KINCENTIAL SCIENCES, a company with an innovative line of cosmetic products marketed as a way to erase blemishes and soften skin, has caught the attention of beauty bloggers on YouTube, Oprah’s lifestyle magazine, and celebrity skin care professionals. Documents obtained by The Intercept reveal that the firm has also attracted interest and […]
SpaceX: Falcon 9 First Stage Landing
April 8th, 2016Via: CBS: An upgraded SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket rocket boosted a Dragon cargo ship into orbit Friday, kicking off a two-day flight to the International Space Station to deliver 3.5 tons of cargo, including an innovative inflatable module that could pave the way to future deep space habitats and commercial space stations. And in a […]
