By now most of us have at least heard that walking and texting can be a dangerous pastime – I mean there are all sorts of things that could go wrong: you could walk into a pole, step in front of a moving vehicle, or as this man proves – wander into the path of a confused bear. Fortunately nobody was hurt and while I am not certain that turning around and running as fast as you can is what you are supposed to do in these situations, it worked for him – so the young man will live to text and walk another day.
You know what we’ve always wondered? Why doesn’t Boeing just hurry up and release a phone? Joking aside, this is really happening. The news comes via National Defense Magazinewhich reports that the airplane manufacturer is developing an Android handset which will have strong security credentials. Currently dubbed “the Boeing phone” we hope the firm puts more thought into its aircraft than its project codenames. Before you start folding out your green, however, be warned that despite running Google’s popular OS, and being a cellular device, the price point is still likely to be more jumbo jet than paper plane, with a Boeing exec pointing out that competitor offerings typically float around the $15-20,000 mark. He goes on to point out that it won’t cost as much as this, but will still likely be out of our reach back here in coach. No word on any sort of specification at the minute, but if you fancy yourself as a high-flyer (or more likely, you work in defense) keep an eye out for this landing later on this year. Now, what if Samsung made a plane..
Google Inc. plans to split its stock 2-for-1 to preserve its leadership’s control over the company and maintain its long-term focus. The online search leader said it is issuing a new class of stock to shareholders. Google also announced a 61 percent jump in profits for the first quarter.
A realistic and fast-paced “mockumentary” shows violence and corruption in Mexico — portrayed exclusively by child actors. The video, which challenges politicians to improve life in Mexico, has been viewed more than 1.8 million times since it was posted on YouTube Monday.
The U.S. government will pay more than $1 billion to settle lawsuits filed by 41 American Indian tribes, who had accused federal agencies of mismanaging tribal money and resources. The agreement ends nearly two years of negotiations; some claims date back more than 100 years.
Pothole Repairs Pothole repair usually involves pouring hot asphalt into holes as a temporary patch. Alan Stanton via Flickr
Sometime soon, when you spot a pothole in the street, you won’t have to swerve around it and curse when your wheel dips in. Instead, you would deliberately drive over it, so the pressure of your car tires will stiffen the little plastic baggie the city dropped in there as a temporary fix. A little non-Newtonian fluid pothole filler could spare your wheel alignment after a harsh winter, saving municipal money and traveler troubles.
Non-Newtonian fluids are those that ooze in some conditions and stiffen in others as they respond to forces applied to them. Newtonian fluids, by contrast, act like fluids no matter what’s done to them. The classic mixture of cornstarch and water is one example of a non-Newtonian fluid. A group of students at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland decided to use these mixtures as pothole fillers, as part of a contest by the French materials company Saint-Gobain, according to ScienceNow.
Here’s how it could work: Instead of driving around with a mixture of hot asphalt, road-repair crews or even police cars would carry plastic bags full of a water-powder mix. The students plan to patent their idea, so they haven’t divulged their recipe, but they say it’s biodegradable and even edible. When a city worker comes upon a pothole, he or she would drop a baggie into the hole, and then cover it up with black tape so a driver wouldn’t mistake it for an obstacle. When a car drives over it, the fluid behaves like a solid – voila, a filled pothole.
This is because it’s a shear-thickening fluid, as ScienceNow explains. Where shear-thinning fluids will squirt and flow when a force is applied, shear-thickening fluids will stiffen up, behaving more like a solid. Like this.
The students have already road-tested their plastic bag trick and say it holds up well, even after a week of continuous use. They are meant to be sturdy enough to last weeks at a time, even in wet and salty-road conditions, until pockmarked roads can be properly filled and smoothed over, the team said. The city of East Cleveland plans to help with further testing, ScienceNow said.
Originating in ancient China, acupuncture has been used for 2500 years. Traditional Chinese medicine holds that disease is caused by blockages and imbalances of energy (known as chi) flowing through meridians in the body, and can be eased by inserting needles at specific points. More »
