Category: Crazy

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From Engadget: NVIDIA scores $12.4 million contract from the DOE to help FastForward exascale computing

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Sick and tired of waiting around for some exascale computing? So’s the Department of Energy. The agency has offered up a $12.4 million contract to NVIDIA as part of its FastForward program, an attempt help speed up exascale development. The chipmaker will be using the two-year contract to help develop architecture for an exascale computer that operates at a “reasonable power level,” in order to “advance the frontiers of science.” Possible implications for exascale computing include the study of climate change, development of efficient engines, the search for disease cures, according to NVIDIA — not to mention “reasons of national security and economic competitiveness.”

 

from Engadget

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From Autoblog: Official: Aspid unveils menacing new GT-21 Invictus hammerhead

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Aspid GT-21 Invictus

Aspid has finally gotten around to revealing the production version of the GT-21 Invictus. This funky-looking sports car delivers 450 horsepower to the rear wheels thanks to a BMW-sourced 4.4-liter V8 engine paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox or six-speed manual. That’s a far cry from the supercharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder found in the Spanish company’s first offering. Aspid says the GT-21 Invictus can lay waste to 60 mph from a standstill in under three seconds on its way to a top speed of 189 mph. Even better, the creation’s suspension can serve up 1.6 g on the skidpad.

The company has managed to keep weight to a mere 2,182 pounds thanks to composite body panels and a spaceframe chassis. Interestingly enough, the GT-21 Invictus is also available with a slew of on-road safety equipment, including adaptive airbags, stability control and anti-lock brakes.

Inside, there’s a 2+2 seating configuration, which suggests there’s actually room for two adults and their luggage for a weekend trip. Aspid is currently aiming to start building its newest model in 2014, but there’s no word on pricing yet. Scroll downto watch a dramatic – dare we say Batman-esque – official video below.

 

from Autoblog

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From Engadget: Researchers use off-the-shelf parts to let you write emails with your eyes

Researchers use offtheshelf parts to let you write emails with your eye movements, play Pong

There’s a lot of research to help the spinal cord or stroke-injured become more self-sufficient, but it often takes some exotic paraphernalia. To buck that trend, scientists from Imperial College London showed that subjects could perform relatively hard tasks like writing messages and playing Pong using eye movement — with a mere $35-worth of parts. They even showed how well the system worked, with subjects scoring within 20 percent of an able-bodied person after a scant 10 minutes of practice. The tracker works with two video console cameras and a pair of eyeglasses that, after calibration, can precisely track the pupils — allowing them to control a cursor or move a paddle. The researchers also figured out how to “click” the eye-mouse by winking, and can even use more precise adjustments to calculate gaze depth — meaning subjects will be able to perform more complex tasks in the future, like guide a motorized wheelchair. While by no means the first eye-tracking system we’ve seen, it’s by far the most economical. Check the video after the break to see how it works.

 

from Engadget

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From Ars Technica: Viruses used in vaccines can recombine—and get virulent

The first successful vaccines, like Jenner’s smallpox vaccine and the first Salk vaccine against polio, were based on viruses that do not cause illness or severe symptoms. Vaccine development has since shifted largely to the use of proteins that are used by the disease-causing agents, but there are still some cases where a dead or attenuated virus is the most effective method of generating immunity.

The use of viruses for vaccines, however, has always come with a bit of a concern. When it comes to viruses, one-in-a-million events happen all the time, and evolution gives any viruses used in vaccines a lot to work with: many related viruses in the wild, and animal genomes that are littered with pieces of former viruses. Now, researchers have discovered a case where two different agricultural vaccines have recombined to create a new, virulent strain of the disease they were intended to prevent.

In poultry, a form of herpesvirus (gallid herpesvirus 1) causes a respiratory disease that is sometimes fatal; even if it doesn’t kill the animals, it causes a reduced egg production. As a result, several vaccines have been developed against the virus responsible, based on attenuated forms that do not cause serious illness. Three of these vaccines are approved for use in Australia: two based on viral strains that are present in Australia, and a third developed against a strain common in Europe.

 

from Ars Technica

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From Autoblog: Video: This is how good car crashing in video games is about to become

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It is evident even with the most realistic car games that crashes have mainly been left off of the realism menu. Sure, hit a wall or another car and there will be some damage and crumpling, but it usually doesn’t look like a genuine car crash. A start-up company called BeamNG is working to change that, developing a physics modification for the Cry Engine 3 to create wrecks that appear to be lifted from a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration crash-test video.

They team has been at it for a while, and the latest multicore version shows off one- and two-car collisions that feature shattering glass and more realistic deformations. They’re still at work on it and have promised more improvements, but the video belowshows off just how real things are about to get in the world of video games. Well, once a game maker decides to use the Cry Engine 3 for a driving game, that is…

 

from Autoblog