Hyperloop One: Open Air Prototype Tested in Nevada
May 11th, 2016I’ve found that Americans, in general, only have a vague concept of what a bullet train is. They know that it’s theoretically possible to travel around the Homeland on the ancient and lumbering Amtrak system, if they want to pay a lot and go slow, but that’s about it.
Nothing worth seeing in other countries, as usual. Move along.
Now, imagine popping one of those inside a vacuum sealed cylinder, removing the air resistance… Woh.
It sounds great, but the hyperloop might as well be in the same basket as fusion power. The ETA is always a couple of decades away. As for the open air test mentioned below, sure, it’s a step toward a viable hyperloop system—in the way that a solid fuel rocket engine could be thought of as a step toward interstellar travel. *sigh*
What I’d like to know is why none of the stories that go on about how hard and expensive hyperloop transportation would be never mention this:
Enjoy the smell of diesel exhaust along your railways, Duhmerica, and here’s a consolation prize to go with it:
Via: Guardian:
Elon Musk’s much-vaunted Hyperloop supersonic train system took a tentative step towards reality with its first public track test of its propulsion system in the Nevada desert.
The company, which changed its name to Hyperloop One on Wednesday to coincide with the open-air propulsion test, has also closed an $80m series B funding round which included investment from the French national rail company SNCF.
When – and very much if – completed, the Hyperloop train would work by propelling a sled at high speeds through a vacuum-sealed tunnel, which its founder claims would be able make the journey from San Francisco to Los Angeles in just 30 minutes.
The Nevada test represents a very early proof of concept; there are a vast number of hurdles that the developers of Hyperloop still have to clear if the technology is to become a reality.
Hyperloop One also announced a series of other partnerships, including Deutsche Bahn Engineering & Consulting and the British engineering consultancy group Arup, who are currently working on London’s Crossrail.
Rob Lloyd, CEO of Hyperloop One, said in a statement: “We will work alongside these world-class partners to redefine the future of transportation, providing a more immediate, safe, efficient and sustainable high-speed backbone for the movement of people and things.”
Volvo’s Self-Driving Program Will Have Redundancy For Everything
May 11th, 2016Via: IEEE:
Next year Volvo will do something no other company has tried: it will put 100 fully self-driving cars in the hands of customers. The tests, which will begin small and ramp up slowly, are to be held in Gothenberg, Sweden and in London.
It’s a lot harder than it may seem. True, the cars will be in self-driving mode only in the testing area and only when driving conditions permit. But they’ll be production cars, not experimental prototypes, and the drivers will be laymen, not engineers, with full ability to sit back and read a book, not continually putting a hand on the steering wheel to prove they’re capable of intervening at a moment’s notice. There’s no human being to serve as backup.
So far, driver-assistance features have enjoyed the inherent redundancy that comes from having a human being behind the wheel. “If antilock brakes fail in a car today, the driver steps on the brake,” says Erik Coelingh, a leader of the project. “In a self-driving car, if ABS fails you need a backup ABS. You need two systems for everything.”
Transparency EU-Style
May 11th, 2016Via: The Journal:
A VIDEO BY Irish MEP Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan criticising the secretive process of viewing classified documents relating to a massive US-EU trade deal has been viewed nearly 70,000 times online.
In the video – entitled ‘TTIP reading room farce’ – Flanagan says he is banned from transcribing notes verbatim from texts relating to the controversial Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations.
On his Twitter and Facebook pages yesterday, Flanagan said staff in the European Parliament told him to remove his video. He said he won’t be complying with the request.
Arkansas Judge Allegedly Offered Young Men Reduced Sentences in Exchange for Sexual Favors
May 11th, 2016Via: Washington Post:
Once, the judge allegedly asked a man to pose like Michelangelo’s Statue of David in exchange for $300.
He allegedly instructed another man to strip naked and bend over, handcuffed, inside an Arkansas courtroom while he snapped photographs, up close.
And on multiple occasions, he allegedly sentenced men — often young and poor — to illegitimate “community service” that ultimately led them to the judge’s home or office, posing for more suggestive photographs as “proof” they had completed their work.
“You’re free to go,” the judge allegedly said after the handcuff incident. “Case dismissed.”
These allegations are among dozens of disturbing claims outlined in state documents regarding the year-long investigation into a part-time Arkansas district judge accused of using his authority for the last 30 years to sexually prey on men charged with minor crimes.
The judge, Joseph Boeckmann, Jr., resigned Monday in the face of mounting evidence discovered by the Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission, which was tasked with determining if the man should be sanctioned or removed from the bench after an initial complaint filed last November. While Boeckmann had previously denied the allegations, his attorney, Jeff Rosenzweig, refused to comment further on the judge’s resignation, reported the AP. Boeckmann’s letter of resignation did not include either a denial or confirmation of the charges.
“He’s a criminal predator who used his judicial power to feed his corrupt desires,” David Sachar, executive director of the commission, told the Associated Press. “Every minute he served as a judge was an insult to the Arkansas Judiciary.”
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In a letter sent to Boeckmann’s lawyer last week, the commission claimed it had already obtained about 1,050 photos from the judge’s computer that “depict young men, many naked who are in various poses inside the judge’s home and outside in his yard.”
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“I anticipate receiving in excess of 3,400 more photographs very soon, also taken from the judge’s home computers,” Sachar wrote. “… We identified many of the young men as those that your client had in front of him as defendants in Cross County District Court. Many of them are also recipients of checks from the judge during their time as defendants or probationers.”
Budweiser Renames Its Beer “America”
May 11th, 2016
Via: USA Today:
Nothing says ‘America’ like an ice-cold can of mass-produced beer.
Anheuser-Busch announced Tuesday that the company is replacing the Budweiser logo with “America” on its 12-oz. cans and bottles this summer.
The cans of patriotic nectar will be available May 23 through the November election and aim “to inspire drinkers to celebrate America and Budweiser’s shared values of freedom and authenticity.”
Nimble-Fingered Robot Outperforms the Best Human Surgeons
May 10th, 2016Via: MIT Technology Review:
A robot surgeon has been taught to perform a delicate procedure—stitching soft tissue together with a needle and thread—more precisely and reliably than even the best human doctor.
The Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot (STAR), developed by researchers at Children’s National Health System in Washington, D.C., uses an advanced 3-D imaging system and very precise force sensing to apply stitches with submillimeter precision. The system was designed to copy state-of-the art surgical practice, but in tests involving living pigs, it proved capable of outperforming its teachers.
Currently, most surgical robots are controlled remotely, and no automated surgical system has been used to manipulate soft tissue. So the work, described today in the journal Science Translational Medicine, shows the potential for automated surgical tools to improve patient outcomes. More than 45 million soft-tissue surgeries are performed in the U.S. each year. Examples include hernia operations and repairs of torn muscles.
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Kim does not see the technology replacing human surgeons. He explains that a surgeon still oversees the robot’s work and will take over in an emergency, such as unexpected bleeding.
The Coming Wide-Spread Use of Drones in Agriculture
May 10th, 2016Via: Hackaday:
Let’s cover what drones can offer and what growers can use, then dig into what is out there and happening over some fields right now.
These Things are Important to Farmers, but are Limited or Troublesome
Confirmation: Verifying that plants are growing where and when they should, and checking this as early and often as possible.
Early Detection of Problems: Detecting areas of poor growth and crop damage as early as possible, limiting impact and maximizing the chances of doing something about it.
Fertilizer Planning: A crop will never grow completely evenly, and choosing where to put fertilizer and how much to use based on plant density and health (instead of spreading it uniformly) can save significant money. This is called Variable Rate Application and anything that helps it get done more accurately saves money and increases crop yield.
Software Update Destroys $286 Million Japanese Satellite
May 10th, 2016Via: Hackaday:
The Japanese X-ray telescope Hitomi has been declared lost after it disintegrated in orbit, torn apart when spinning out of control. The cause is still under investigation but early analysis points to bad data in a software package pushed shortly after an instrument probe was extended from the rear of the satellite. JAXA, the Japanese space agency, lost $286 million, three years of planned observations, and a possible additional 10 years of science research.
‘Emails From Hillary Clinton’s IT Director at State Department Appear to Be Missing’
May 9th, 2016This is absurd to the point that I’m rocking back and forth in my chair and speaking in tongues.
I’m going to push back from my desk and go feed the chickens… Assuming I don’t have a grand mal seizure first.
Via: ABC:
The State Department said today it can’t find Bryan Pagliano’s emails from the time he served as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s senior information technology staffer during her tenure there.
Pagliano would have been required to turn over any official communications from his work account before he left the government. State Department officials say he had an official email account, but that they can’t find any of those records he would have turned over and continue to search for them.
“The Department has searched for Mr. Pagliano’s email pst file and has not located one that covers the time period of Secretary Clinton’s tenure,” State Department spokesman Elizabeth Trudeau said today, referencing a file format that holds email.
Another Girl Dies After HPV Shot
May 9th, 2016Here’s another one for your already hemorrhaging coincidence file folder.
Via: Manchester Evening News:
A teenage girl died just five days after having a cervical cancer jab.
Shazel Zaman, 13, was suffering with a severe headache, vomiting and dizziness after having the jab.
Her symptoms became so severe that her family took her to Bury’s Fairfield Hospital.
But the family claim that a doctor dismissed her condition was linked to the HPV vaccine jab and astonishingly even branded her a ‘lazy child’ before she was sent home.
She was found collapsed unconscious with no pulse an hour later at her home in Bury, and died in hospital about four hours later.
Doctors had told her family they believed she might have a stomach bug and told them to bring her back to hospital if her condition worsened.
Now Pennine Acute NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, has launched an investigation into the standard of care Shazel received at the hospital.
