Category: Crazy

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From Autoblog: Professor beats traffic ticket with physics paper

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We’ve never been falsely accused of a traffic violation, having earned every last second of our time before a judge, but when it does happen to us, we’ll certainly want to brush up on our physics. Dmitiri Krioukov, a physicist with the University of California, recently pleaded his way out of a fine for rolling through a stop sign using the power of mathematics. Krioukov worked up a four-page physics paper underscoring the differences between linear and angular motion to prove that he could have theoretically come to a complete stop and resumed traveling in the time it took another vehicle to pass between him and the citing officer.

The idea is that perception of speed can be altered depending on one’s viewpoint. Since the officer viewed Krioukov from the side and the physicist supposedly came to a complete stop very quickly before accelerating again just as fast, it appeared as if he never stopped at all. Or at least that was the notion. Whether or not the judge believed the professor didn’t matter so much as the fact that Krioukov managed to shed some doubt on the accusation. He was declared innocent and spared the $400 fine.

But the story doesn’t end there. The physicist left a flaw in his proof, and has invited everyone to see if they can figure it out. From our layman’s point of view, it appears Krioukov’s Toyota Yaris managed to fall from 22 mph to 0 and vault back up to 22 in the span of three seconds. Must be quite the machine. You can check out the full paper here.

 

from Autoblog

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From Popular Science – New Technology, Science News, The Future Now: The Thousand-Year-Old Viking Sunstone

Viking Sunstone CojoArt.com

A thousand years ago, Vikings navigated with a sunstone, which they used to locate the sun on cloudy days. The stone-a calcite crystal called Iceland spar-funnels light into two beams. When the beams appear equally bright, the rock is facing the light, even if it’s obscured. Researchers now use calcite to funnel light around tiny objects for “invisibility” cloaks.

from Popular Science – New Technology, Science News, The Future Now

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From Ars Technica: iPhone users hold AT&T accountable for perpetuating smartphone theft


Three plaintiffs filed a class-action lawsuit against AT&T in California Superior Court this week, alleging that the company acted as an accessory to theft by re-activating their stolen iPhones for the new, illegitimate owners. The suit comes as the telecom company is making moves to address smartphone theft—earlier this week, the AT&T as well as Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint announced a plan to create a national database of lost or stolen phones so that thieves could not reactivate pilfered devices.

Still, the plaintiffs think they have a case, as AT&T and other telecom companies have registered and assigned names of legitimate users to legally purchased smartphones for years, but still neglect to check with the original user when reassigning registration of the phone. And, telecom companies operate with the knowledge that users will simply buy or replace smartphones in the event of theft.

The complaint accused AT&T and any other “Doe Corporation Entities” that were “in some way legally or proximately responsible” of negligence, civil conspiracy, accessory to theft, and fraud and breach of contract, among other charges. “Plaintiffs have been told by AT&T representatives that they will not, and ‘cannot’ block and effectively kill usage of stolen cell phones by thieves and criminal organizations, however, such representations are false an fraudulent,” the suit read(PDF).

Other countries like Germany and Australia keep databases that prevent reactivation of stolen phones, which has lowered incidences of theft. In the US, electronics have recently begun to surpass cash as the most frequently stolen form of property.

 

 

from Ars Technica