Day: September 15, 2015

‘Netfling’ is a concept for a dating app based on Netflix ratings

SuperHeroes Amsterdam

A proposed app hopes to skip the pleasantries and get to the most important online dating question: what shows do you like to stream?

The app, called "Netfling," is so far just a concept proposed by "digitally born and raised" ad agency SuperHeroes Amsterdam, albeit one whose timing couldn’t be more perfect: the term “Netflix and chill” has rapidly become the preferred euphemism for proposing a "hook up" by young adults. (Netflix, for its part, counts streaming hours even if you’re not paying attention to the screen).

The honest truth is that streaming services and bingewatching movies and TV unites people intimately, whether they end up paying attention to what’s on or not. Netflix had more than 65 million users as of last count, 42 million in the US alone. For comparison, the much-ballyhooed dating app Tinder has an estimated 50 million users worldwide (the company hasn’t released official figures).

Combining the audiences certainly presents advantages for people looking for someone with shared interests — or at least mutual interest in Netflix and dating. And for users, Netflix is a significant factor in determining shared interests, given that the average Netflix subscriber uses the service for about two hours a day.

Netfling and its probable competitor Binger, are hoping to enter the market but await the return of an open Netflix application programming interface (API) — the system used by third-party software developers to build apps based on a company’s data — which Netflix discontinued in 2014. Would-be Netflix-based dating apps will need that in order to do with Netflix what Tinder does with Facebook. Without an open API, it’s unlikely we’ll actually see either app enter the market anytime soon.

Here’s hoping it does, even at the cost of star-crossed lovers with differing opinions on The Walking Dead.

NASA/MSFC/Christopher Burnside

An infrared image of a 22 Newton thruster taken during a 10-second pulsing test using the LMP-103S green propellant.

Once satellites reach their orbit, they sometimes need to change altitude or orientation. And to do that, they typically use thrusters that are powered by hydrazine. Hydrazine, while good at its job of moving bulky objects through space, is also rather toxic chemical and highly reactive. So, space agencies have been on the lookout for a replacement.

Yesterday, NASA announced that they’ve completed testing on two different green propellant options. One, known as LMP-103S, was tested at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The team fired five and 22 Newton thrusters in different conditions, monitoring them with infrared cameras. While those thrusters might seem puny (in comparison, the space shuttle had about 7.8 million pounds of thrust at launch), without gravity holding them down, the power goes a long way.

In a statement from NASA, the lead engineer for the LMP tests, Christopher Burnside said, "They performed quite well, providing performance at comparable levels to today’s hydrazine thrusters. It’s always great to put thrusters through the paces in an environment that simulates operational conditions.”

The other green propellant subjected to hot-fire testing was the equally-catchy AF-M315E, which was developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory. This one will take part in NASA’s Green Propellant Infusion Mission, which is scheduled to launch in 2016. The GPIM team tested the propellant with one Newton thrusters (which will be used as part of the mission) and 22 Newton thrusters. Once launch time comes, the propellant will be tested on a small satellite during a two-month long demonstration in space.

While these were first hot-fire tests in the United States, ESA has also been looking into alternative satellite propulsion methods like LMP-103S, particularly with their Clean Space project, which aims to reduce the environmental footprint of space exploration.

Since both of these alternative propellants are less dangerous to handle and take less time to process, NASA says they could cut down on costs, and as an added bonus, AF-M315E is much denser than hydrazine, meaning more of it can be stored in containers.