Day: January 14, 2020

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Porsche applies to patent an all-electric VTOL flying taxi

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/01/13/porsche-vtol-flying-taxi-patent/

Porsche began talking up its bet on flying cars in early 2018. The automaker included an airborne passenger vehicle in its Strategy 2025 under “shaping the future of the sports car,” and a board member said engineers were “a very early stage” with concepts that would be “able to fly on [their] own completely from A to B, but also enabling the passenger or pilot to take control for a certain amount of time, if it stays within its [performance] envelope.” October of last year, Porsche signed a memorandum of understanding with Boeing to work together developing a concept for a “premium” electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) craft. Turns out that a few months before the official collaboration, Porsche filed two patent applications in July with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The Taycan EV Forum discovered the paperwork, one simply for “Aircraft,” the other for a “Power supply for an aircraft and corresponding aircraft.” Both show line images of a flying taxi that could have inspired the slick rendering released with the Boeing announcement.

This imagining is all-electric and autonomous, although the craft will be able to “grant normal control to humans if they are sufficiently qualified.” Compared to the rendering, which had a clearly extended nose section, the earlier patent drawings are more like a two-seat cockpit and stabilizer set into a large airfoil. Instead of the propellers we’re used to seeing on flying taxi concepts so far, Porsche engineers have gone for an array of ducted fans — a fixed pair of horizontal fans set forward in the airfoil, another pair of fans set into the trailing edge. Those at the back can swivel at least 90 degrees, providing a range of vertical and horizontal thrust. One of the drawings shows another possibility mentioned in the text: “The aircraft can be equipped with folded or even selectively foldable airfoils. One corresponding variant enlarges the wing area which is active during horizontal flying, without increasing the footprint of the aircraft, how­ever.”

A novel feature is an extendable bank of louvers over the horizontal fans. The slats open and close in the service of aerodynamic efficiency, such as during horizontal flying when the rear fans produce adequate thrust.

The patent also goes into detail about cooling systems for the high-voltage batteries in the cockpit. The text refers to a “cooling plate below the airfoil for dissipating heat from the electronic components and cooling fins for dissipating the heat which is output by the cooling plate,” and other ways to shunt battery heat to the edges of the airfoil. Even the fuel tank gets a mention, engineers having conceived of “aircraft fuel tank flammability reduction method by way of the feeding of compressed air into an air separation module which contains an oxygen separating membrane.”

A Porsche study completed in 2018 found that urban air transportation could increase significantly starting around 2025. We don’t expect to see a flying Porsche by then, but it’s clear the sports car maker plans on being ready when the time is right.

via Autoblog https://ift.tt/1afPJWx

January 13, 2020 at 10:33AM

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The best Android apps for your Chromebook

https://www.popsci.com/story/diy/best-android-apps-chromebook/

With little hard drive memory, Chromebooks look like laptops but feel like tablets.

With little hard drive memory, Chromebooks look like laptops but feel like tablets. (Andrew Neel via Unsplash/)

Chromebooks today come with support for Android apps—you can load up Instagram, Twitter, Dropbox, and other useful tools just as you can on your mobile phone. But not all Android apps have been properly updated for Chrome OS—maybe they don’t support the use of a keyboard and trackpad, or maybe they’ll only run in a small window.

With that in mind, and to prevent you from diving into a tedious trial and error process, we’re here to guide you towards some of the best Android apps that really make full use of your Chromebook.

Netflix

No more trailer auto-play is enough of a reason to download the Netflix app.

No more trailer auto-play is enough of a reason to download the Netflix app. (David Nield/)

Video and movie apps are a no-brainer for your Chromebook, but there are a couple good reasons why you would want to load up the Netflix app for Android on Chrome OS rather than just logging in through a browser tab.

Offline downloads is one: the app lets you save selected content (including all Netflix Originals titles) to your Chromebook for when you’ve got a limited connection or none at all.

Besides offline downloads, the tablet-style interface makes it easier to browse through lists of seasons and episodes than it is on the web. Plus, it won’t annoy you by playing trailers automatically as you browse.

Netflix for Android (from $9 a month).

Apple Music

Besides a “Switch to iOS” tool, Apple Music is the only app Apple makes for Android, so if you subscribe to Apple Music, you’ll still have full access to all your tunes on your Chromebook.

The app makes full use of the space—you can get album artwork or lyrics that scroll by in real time on one side of the screen, while you browse playlists and recommendations on the other. The app works with the media playback keys on your Chromebook keyboard, too.

Just like Apple Music for Android phones, the app can sync albums and playlists to your device, which means your listening can carry on even if you lose your internet connection.

Apple Music for Android ($10 a month).

Adobe Photoshop Express

Definitely not the same as the full Photoshop software, but it carries most of the tools you'll need to get your pictures Instagram-ready.

Definitely not the same as the full Photoshop software, but it carries most of the tools you’ll need to get your pictures Instagram-ready. (David Nield/)

Though photo editing remains one of the weaker spots in the Chromebook productivity workflow, you can still find several tools that will do a good job at this, both on the web and in the Android app library. One of the best is Adobe Photoshop Express.

It doesn’t include all the tools you’ll find in the full Photoshop software, but it has all the basic functions that will help you crop and resize images, add filters and text, adjust brightness and contrast, fix red eye and blemishes, and more. There’s also a one-tap fix button for automatically adjusting color and tone.

The app makes full use of the space on a Chromebook screen, too, so there’s plenty of room for your images and the various effects and options. You can also easily save your pictures to the disk or share them to other apps.

Adobe Photoshop Express for Android (free).

Microsoft Word

You might be used to opening up Google Docs when you need to do some writing on your Chromebook, but we’d definitely recommend getting Word for Android installed as well, for a more traditional word processing experience.

You’ll get a full range of text formatting options, the ability to drop in pictures, shapes, and tables, and support for headers, footers, and columns. It’s not quite the powerhouse of a program that Word on Windows is, but it has more than enough for most users. You can share and collaborate on documents with others, too.

The only catch is that Word for Android isn’t free on screens above 10.1 inches in size—which most Chromebooks are—so you’ll need an Office 365 subscription (from $7 a month). This also gets you Excel, PowerPoint, and the other Office apps too, across desktop and mobile.

Microsoft Word for Android (from $7 a month).

ArtFlow

ArtFlow can be the key to unleashing all of your artistic potential. Just look at that gorgeous, realistic looking tree.

ArtFlow can be the key to unleashing all of your artistic potential. Just look at that gorgeous, realistic looking tree. (David Nield/)

Unlock your creativity by installing ArtFlow on your Chrome OS laptop—it’s one of the best drawing programs for Android devices, and since Chromebook has a bigger display than a phone or a regular tablet, you’ll get a much bigger canvas to work on.

The app comes with a choice of 20 different drawing brushes, as well as an eraser and smudge and fill tools. You can use your finger or a stylus to start sketching or painting, though you’re going to need a touchscreen for this one, which most Chromebooks now have.

ArtFlow supports layers as well, so you can work separately on different elements of your digital masterpiece before combining them. If you want to work with more tools, features and layers, you can go for a pro license ($5).

ArtFlow for Android (free or $5).

Firefox

Using Chrome OS doesn’t mean you have to use Chrome as your web browser—there are plenty of alternatives to pick from in the Google Play Store, including the ever-improving, privacy-focused Firefox.

Take full control over the ways that websites can and can’t track you, jump quickly between multiple tabs, and even install browser extensions. If you use Firefox on some or all of your other devices, then you can also sync your passwords, bookmarks, browsing history, and other data to your Chromebook.

Firefox is equally happy running in full-screen mode or in a smaller window floating on top of other apps, which is handy if you’re working in parallel with other apps or looking up something on the web.

Firefox for Android (free).

Gmail

Get that inbox down to zero by swiping and deleting.

Get that inbox down to zero by swiping and deleting. (David Nield/)

Of course, you can load up Gmail in a web browser on your Chromebook and it’ll work perfectly well—with offline support, too—but the Android app will give you access to a few extra tricks for powering through your inbox.

Gmail for Android has a useful tablet-style layout that puts your message list on the left, and individual email previews on the right, making it easier to read messages and filter those that are not worth your time. The app also supports some of the functionalities of Gmail for Android, so you can swipe across emails to archive or delete them.

On top of that, all the usual Gmail goodness is here—support for multiple email accounts, automatic sorting of important and unimportant messages, powerful search options, and more.

Gmail for Android (free).

Your favorite games

"I prefer my games on a smaller screen, actually," said no one ever.

"I prefer my games on a smaller screen, actually," said no one ever. (David /)

We won’t pick out just one example here, but a Chromebook works great for Android gaming—though finding games that work well on Chrome OS can be a bit of a process. Overall, slower, less-demanding games work best.

If you do find your favorite games run smoothly on your Chromebook, the benefits are obvious: your games of choice are displayed at a much bigger size and you can control them using a trackpad and keyboard, rather than tapping on the screen.

Games we can vouch for as offering a good experience on Chrome OS include Alto’s Odyssey (free with in-app purchases), Grand Theft Auto: Vice City ($5), Fallout Shelter (free with in-app purchases), and Crossy Road (free with in-app purchases), but you’ll sure be able to find plenty more.

via Popular Science – New Technology, Science News, The Future Now https://www.popsci.com

January 13, 2020 at 04:32PM

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A food scientist breaks down the thermodynamics between marshmallows and hot chocolate

https://www.popsci.com/story/science/hot-chocolate-cocoa-marshmallows-physics/

Marshmallows should reduce the temperature of hot chocolate, but there are other factors involved, too.

Marshmallows should reduce the temperature of hot chocolate, but there are other factors involved, too.

Hot chocolate is simply incomplete without marshmallows. As the plump white globs melt to form a puffy blanket, it’s easy to take for granted the molecular phenomena occurring inside as you sip on the delicious beverage. A key component to the tasty treat is its temperature: too hot and it burns your tongue, too lukewarm and it loses its cozy-feel. A worthwhile scientific inquiry then is whether the marshmallows act as a cooling agent or, rather, keep the hot chocolate hot.

“I’d guess that the marshmallow would reduce the temperature of the hot chocolate,” says Chris Loss, a food scientist and lecturer at Cornell University.

Temperature is essentially a measure of energy, Loss says. Fast-moving molecules produce more energy and therefore raise the temperature of whatever entity they are in.

According to the laws of thermodynamics, energy flows from high to low concentrations. In the marshmallow-hot chocolate scenario, the hot chocolate’s high energy likely moves to the lower-energy marshmallows.

The hot chocolate’s energy seeps into the marshmallows and “jiggles” the sugar and protein molecules. That’s when the molecules separate and the marshmallows turn into those blankets of goo and dissolve into the drink. As it dissolves, it likely lowers the hot chocolate’s energy and thus its temperature. The process continues until the energy between the two reaches an equilibrium.

The marshmallows aren’t the only element slowing things down; the properties of the hot chocolate itself factor in as well. The dissolving sugars and proteins block the water molecules, he says, which could slow down molecular movement and further decrease the liquid temperature.

There might be other factors at play, however. Loss says kitchen air produces an “evaporative cooling” effect as water is freed from the drink’s surface and into the atmosphere. Since they’re filled with air, the marshmallows could insulate the hot chocolate by slowing down this cooling.

To decelerate this cooling process, some chefs insulate meat from kitchen air with a vacuumed sous vide in a precisely heated water bath. To ensure the proper temperature of the bath is maintained, Loss has floated ping pong balls over the water’s entire surface to maximize the effect.

All together, a number of factors could influence this heat transfer, like the quantity and size of the marshmallows, along with the cup’s circumference. If marshmallows do indeed cool hot chocolate, Loss says he’s interested in learning the specific rate of cooling.

“The real answer to these sorts of questions should be an engaging discussion that is based on facts, drawn from observations,” Loss says.

If you’re up for an experiment, whip up a cup of hot chocolate and measure it with a food-safe thermometer both before and after adding marshmallows. Try to record the temperature at regular intervals and watch how it changes. Tweet us @PopSci with your results!

via Popular Science – New Technology, Science News, The Future Now https://www.popsci.com

January 13, 2020 at 02:36PM