At McKinley Climate Lab, researchers create fearsome weather to test cars and planes.
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At McKinley Climate Lab, researchers create fearsome weather to test cars and planes.
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We’ve had to turn down various opportunities to fly halfway around the world to take out one of Oru’s folding kayaks. At The Outpost this year, we finally got on the water.
Gizmodo Media Group may get a commission
Gizmodo Media Group may get a commission
Oru Kayaks fold down to the shape of a messenger bag, and since they start at just 26 pounds, you can carry them like one too.
We got to watch the Oru staff put together an original Oru and 2017 model back to back at the event, and from where I was standing, the reduction in assembly complexity was dramatic. The 2017 models basically “zip†together, like you’re installing cable molding. In both cases though, there’s nothing daunting about the build. And yes, I rushed the line to take out one of the 2017 models.
If you’ve been working your way through the canonical list of tropical vacations, you’ve likely taken out a rental kayak on more than one occasion. They’re bulky, basically impossible to capsize, and in many cases shockingly uncomfortable.
Oru is none of those things. Oru’s shape is stealthy compared to those boats, and balancing, while not a feat, is a constant and active process, and much more of a workout. The majority of Outpost’s attendees were likely inexperienced kayakers, including myself, and only two capsized throughout the day, not including myself, in spite of strong winds and choppy water.
Oru currently has three model of kayak, and it should be pretty clear from those star ratings below which one is for you. All of them can handle low class rapids when they have to.
If you’ve spent little time in a kayak, we see inflatable models for as low as $50 over on Kinja Deals, with pump included. If you love this hobby, put Oru at the top of your wishlist. I certainly will be.
I told the Oru guys they should definitely unpack an Oru on the subway and row through, so if that ends up on YouTube it was my idea… then again, I don’t wish the subway on anyone these days.
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This is a video discussing those stinging little red shit fire ants (Solenopsis Invicta) and their classification as a viscoelastic material. That means a group of fire ants have properties of both a solid (elasticity) and a liquid (viscosity). The video was actually pretty fascinating, mostly because I can’t believe people have spent so much time studying fire ants and writing mathematical formulas about the way they move and not just destroying their ant hills with a stick. "Or setting a whole bunch on fire with a magnifying glass." Okaaaaay, future serial killer. Keep going for the video. It really is fascinating.
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Next time you see a cute pair of shoes or a cool shirt you’d like to buy, snap a picture or take a screenshot. eBay has just announced two new features that adds image search capabilities, similar to Pinterest’s visual search tool, to its mobile app. "Find It On eBay" gives you the power to share images straight from any social network or website to the online shopping platform’s application. Just choose the website’s logo with the "Find it now" tag line, click "search using this image" when it pops up and highlight the part of the photo you want to look up.
The other feature that’s simply called "Image Search" gives you the power to look for items using photos you’ve taken or saved on your device. Both tools make it much easier to find listings when you’re looking for something really specific or looking up something you have no idea how to describe — hey, it happens to everyone.
eBay says its deep learning-based neural network processes the images you upload and gives its system a representation of the item you’re looking for. The website then compares that representation to its listings, ranks the results based on visual similarities and presents you the top-ranking items for sale.
You’ll have to wait a bit before you can take the features for a spin, though: eBay isn’t rolling them out until the fall. Plus, while Image Search will be available on Android and iOS devices, Find it on eBay will be exclusive to Android users.
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Your future computer or phone will be capable of stupidly fast transfer speeds. The USB 3.0 Promoter Group unveiled the USB 3.2 specification that effectively doubles the current USB 3.1 spec by adding an extra lane. As such, it will allow for two lanes of 5 Gbps for USB 3.0, yielding 10 Gbps, or two lanes of 10 Gbps for 20 Gbps with USB 3.1. As a bonus, the "superspeed" USB-C cable you’re currently using already has the capability for dual-lane operation built in.
By way of example, the group says that a USB 3.2 host connected to a USB 3.2 storage device will be capable of 2GB/s transfer over a "superspeed" certified USB 3.1 cable. "When we introduced USB Type-C to the market, we intended to assure that USB Type-C cables and connectors certified for SuperSpeed USB or SuperSpeed USB 10 Gbps would, as produced, support higher performance USB as newer generations of USB 3.0 were developed," said USB 3.0 Promoter Group Chairman Brad Saunders.
You should take those Thunderbolt-like numbers with a grain of salt, however. USB 3.0 or 3.1 devices (which confusingly use USB-C cables) rarely come close to their certified speeds. For instance, The Wirecutter found that the fastest USB 3.0 flash drive, the Extreme CZ80, could read and write at 254 MB/s and 170 MB/s, tops — half of what USB 3.0 is capable of. (Some USB 3.1 superspeed SSD drives can saturate a USB 3.0 connection, however.)
Still, flash storage is advancing rapidly, thanks to 64-layer and higher tech from Toshiba, Intel, Samsung and WD, and those kind of speeds are handy if you’re editing RAW or 4K video. The USB 3.0 Promoter Group (with Apple, HP, Intel, Microsoft and others as members) says that the 3.2 spec will be finalized by the end of 2017, so don’t expect to see any devices until then. In the meantime, we’ll hear more about it in September this year in North America during the USB Developer Days.
Source: USB 3.0 Promoter Group
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Xiaomi’s Mi division, which sells some accessories in the US but still no phones, is getting into smart speakers. It just unveiled the Mi AI Speaker, its equivalent to Amazon’s Alexa, Google Home and other personal assistant-type models. However, it play music and take voice commands for a lot less, costing just 299 RMB or around $45 when it hits shelves in China starting next month.
It features "high-quality" sound and a six microphone array to detect voice commands from any direction and distance like its rivals. More importantly, it has artificial intelligence built-in, so you can order it to play streaming music and act as a personal assistant, giving you weather, calendar reminders, news and so on. (Xiaomi also unveiled a "Smart assistant" built into its MIUI Android variant, but that’s merely a quick launcher.)
The Mi AI Speaker will accept third-party apps, much like Alexa’s Skills via its "Platform Waterdrop." It’ll also be able to control other Mi products like the Mi TV, Mi Box and Mi Robot Vacuum Cleaner, or even dumb appliances using Mi’s Smart Plug or Smart Strip.
Along with the AI Speaker, Mi also unveiled the Mi 5X phone, a 5.5-inch mid-range model with pretty nice specs. That includes 4GB of RAM, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor, dual 12-megapixel cameras with wide and telephoto lenses and an HD screen — not bad for 1,499 RMB ($222). That will be powered by Xiaomi’s new MIUI 9 Android OS, featuring the aforementioned Smart Assistant and a few other new upgrades.
If you’re in China and lucky enough to be one of the first 1,000 in the Mi AI Speaker beta, you’ll be able to get it for a mere one yuan, provided you’re willing to help train it. After that, it will go for 299 RMB, or $45. There’s no word on US or UK availability yet for either the Mi 5X or AI Speaker, but as with other Xiaomi products, don’t count on it.
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Interstellar Technologies
Interstellar Technologies
Interstellar Technologies
Interstellar Technologies
Interstellar Technologies
Interstellar Technologies
Interstellar Technologies
The United States has by far the most rich and diverse commercial aerospace industry in the world, but that doesn’t mean companies in other countries aren’t giving it a go as well. One of those companies is Interstellar Technologies, which began as a group of hobbyists in 1997 and became a corporation in 2003.
After more than a decade of engine and booster development, Interstellar is poised to make its first launch attempt—and the first launch of a private rocket from Japan—this weekend. As early as Saturday, the company will attempt to launch a sounding rocket named Momo from the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. The launch window opens from 10:20 to 12:30 local time.
According to the Momo rocket’s users guide, the vehicle stands 8.5 meters tall, has a dry mass of 250kg, and a 0.5-meter diameter. It can deliver 10kg to an altitude of 130km, or 20kg to an altitude 120km. The duration of the entire flight lasts about 10 minutes depending on the mission profile, and this includes about four minutes of microgravity. Afterward, the payload can be recovered from the ocean.
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A single liquid-fueled engine, which uses ethanol for fuel and liquid oxygen as an oxidizer, powers the rocket. This engine (shown being test fired in the embedded Tweet) has a relatively modest thrust of 12kN. By way of comparison, each of the nine Merlin 1-D engines that powers SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has a thrust of 845kN.
Still, it’s a start. And because the company is using liquid-fueled engines rather than solid rocket motors, the traditional means of powering sounding rockets, it suggests that Interstellar eventually plans to get into orbital flights. The company hopes to do that by around 2020. “The next main business is launching a satellite,” the company’s chief executive, Takahiro Inagawa, said this week. “I want to make that step.” But first, they’ll have to master suborbital flights.
Listing image by Interstellar Technologies
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