Photo
June 01, 2012
48 notes
thisistheverge: Google planning to introduce ‘the next dimension’ of maps on June 6th Reports have been swirling that Apple will finally drop Google Maps and introduce its own mapping solution at WWDC ‘12, but Google apparently has its own big mapping announcement in store. 

thisistheverge:

Google planning to introduce ‘the next dimension’ of maps on June 6th

Reports have been swirling that Apple will finally drop Google Maps and introduce its own mapping solution at WWDC ‘12, but Google apparently has its own big mapping announcement in store. 

Photo
June 01, 2012
75 notes
8bitfuture: Nissan launches ‘leaf-to-home’ system in Japan. The system allows owners to use the battery in their Leaf electric vehicle as a backup power supply to their home in an emergency, or as a way to buy and store power at off-peak rates, to feed back into their home at peak times. The EV Power Supply station is also capable of fully charging the Leaf in only four hours - half the time of an ordinary charger. The cars battery can store up to 24kWh of electricity, which Nissan claims will power the average Japanese home for two full days. The Leaf-To-Home system goes on sale in Japan in mid-June for ¥333,000 (around US$4240).

8bitfuture:

Nissan launches ‘leaf-to-home’ system in Japan.

The system allows owners to use the battery in their Leaf electric vehicle as a backup power supply to their home in an emergency, or as a way to buy and store power at off-peak rates, to feed back into their home at peak times.

The EV Power Supply station is also capable of fully charging the Leaf in only four hours - half the time of an ordinary charger. The cars battery can store up to 24kWh of electricity, which Nissan claims will power the average Japanese home for two full days.

The Leaf-To-Home system goes on sale in Japan in mid-June for ¥333,000 (around US$4240).

(Source: eetimes.com, via wildcat2030)

Photo
May 31, 2012
25 notes
wildcat2030: From space Earth is simply a pale blue dot. It’s blue because of all the water on its surface. In fact, a little more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by water, most of it ocean. But how much water is there, really? This image, produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), shows all of Earth’s water in three little orbs. The big one, over the western U.S., is all the water in the world—everything from the salty oceans to the water found deep underground. It looks small compared with the size of Earth, but that sphere’s volume is 1.38 billion cubic kilometers and it is about 1,385 kilometers in diameter. The smaller floating sphere in the middle at 272.8 kilometers in diameter represents a subset of that bigger sphere, showing freshwater in the ground, lakes, swamps and rivers. It doesn’t include permanent ice- and snowpacks locked in the polar ice caps—which is where much of the world’s freshwater is held; humans, unfortunately, do not have access to this supply. The tiny speck next to it represents and even smaller subset of all the water– just the freshwater in lakes and rivers. It, too, seems tiny by comparison with the big orb, but it is 56.2 kilometers in diameter. (via It’s a Water-Full World: Scientific American Gallery)

wildcat2030:

From space Earth is simply a pale blue dot. It’s blue because of all the water on its surface. In fact, a little more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by water, most of it ocean. But how much water is there, really? This image, produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), shows all of Earth’s water in three little orbs. The big one, over the western U.S., is all the water in the world—everything from the salty oceans to the water found deep underground. It looks small compared with the size of Earth, but that sphere’s volume is 1.38 billion cubic kilometers and it is about 1,385 kilometers in diameter. The smaller floating sphere in the middle at 272.8 kilometers in diameter represents a subset of that bigger sphere, showing freshwater in the ground, lakes, swamps and rivers. It doesn’t include permanent ice- and snowpacks locked in the polar ice caps—which is where much of the world’s freshwater is held; humans, unfortunately, do not have access to this supply. The tiny speck next to it represents and even smaller subset of all the water– just the freshwater in lakes and rivers. It, too, seems tiny by comparison with the big orb, but it is 56.2 kilometers in diameter. (via It’s a Water-Full World: Scientific American Gallery)

Video
May 31, 2012
18 notes

realcleverscience:

Tal Golesworthy, “How I Repaired My Own Heart.”

I wrote some time ago (here) about this guy and why I think he’s awesome and a sign of the future, of how we’re controlling our evolution and destiny, and perhaps the best indication of late as to how transhumanism is already here.

The talk itself is more practical than inspiring, but all the same, fascinating.

(Source: ted.com, via wildcat2030)

Photo
May 31, 2012
66 notes
joshbyard: A Network Model for Societal Evolution Networks and complexity. Organizations and societies evolved from tribes to institutions to markets to networks, each stage triggered by major societal changes in communications. The written word enabled institutions, the printed word fostered regional and global markets, and the digital word is empowering worldwide networks. (Via ibmsocialbiz)

joshbyard:

A Network Model for Societal Evolution

Networks and complexity. Organizations and societies evolved from tribes to institutions to markets to networks, each stage triggered by major societal changes in communications. The written word enabled institutions, the printed word fostered regional and global markets, and the digital word is empowering worldwide networks.

(Via ibmsocialbiz)

Photo
May 31, 2012
13 notes
springwise: In Brazil, ad campaign brands fruit with special molds We’ve already seen companies such as Dole Organic marking their produce with three-digit codes via stickers to give consumers information on their origins. Now, as part of a marketing drive to show how natural the ingredients are in Camp Nectar fruit juice, Brazilian ad agency AGE Isobar has come up with a novel way to turn the actual fruit into the shape of the brand’s cartons. READ MORE…

springwise:

In Brazil, ad campaign brands fruit with special molds

We’ve already seen companies such as Dole Organic marking their produce with three-digit codes via stickers to give consumers information on their origins. Now, as part of a marketing drive to show how natural the ingredients are in Camp Nectar fruit juice, Brazilian ad agency AGE Isobar has come up with a novel way to turn the actual fruit into the shape of the brand’s cartons. READ MORE…

Photo
May 30, 2012
16 notes
revoltfactory: Death Star Grill Turns Your Barbecue Into A Star (via Bit Rebels)

revoltfactory:

Death Star Grill Turns Your Barbecue Into A Star

(via Bit Rebels)

Link
May 30, 2012
4 notes
Flame: The Skype-Sniffing, Bluetooth-Enabled Super Spy Tool Is A Harbinger

unexpectedtech:

Cyberwarfare—and corporate espionage—are two-way streets. Flame is an admirably complex piece of technology. Even if Israel or the United States isn’t behind the project, it’s still the pinnacle of covert cyberwarfare in 2012. However, today’s high-tech novelty is tomorrow’s routine weapon. As Flame is examined in detail and reverse-engineered, the product’s unique aspects will be replicated and improved by other interested parties. This will mean a significant headache for computer security firms.

Programs, worms, and malware aren’t created in vacuums. It’s a very safe assumption that there are other products similar to Flame lurking on computers right now, surreptitiously spying on users’ every move or deleting strategic files… and evading detection by the anti-virus programs personal and enterprise users rely on to keep themselves secure. Apart from the United States and Israel, China, Russia, France, the United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, Brazil, and a host of other foreign countries have their own cyberwarfare programs. Emerging cyberwarfare threats are a part of everyday life—from Flame to fears that China is placing backdoors in computer chips sold to the U.S. military. Then, of course, there are all the cyberweapons discovered on a regular basis that we don’t hear about because governments and corporations wish to keep mum.

Flame is like something out of a science fiction movie, or a plot device from the latest Mission Impossible. High strangeness is a matter-of-fact assumption when dealing with cyberwarfare and technology these days. Today’s spying on academics and Iranian oil facilities might just be tomorrow’s creepy corporate information-gathering tool.

Photo
May 30, 2012
26 notes
wildcat2030: This graphic shows a matter wave hitting a Schrodinger’s hat. The wave inside the container is magnified. Outside, the waves wrap as if they had never encountered any obstacle. Credit: G. Uhlmann, U. of Washington (via Mathematicians can conjure matter waves inside an invisible hat) Invisibility, once the subject of magic or legend, is slowly becoming reality. Over the past five years mathematicians and other scientists have been working on devices that enable invisibility cloaks – perhaps not yet concealing Harry Potter, but at least shielding small objects from detection by microwaves or sound waves.

wildcat2030:

This graphic shows a matter wave hitting a Schrodinger’s hat. The wave inside the container is magnified. Outside, the waves wrap as if they had never encountered any obstacle. Credit: G. Uhlmann, U. of Washington (via Mathematicians can conjure matter waves inside an invisible hat)

Invisibility, once the subject of magic or legend, is slowly becoming reality. Over the past five years mathematicians and other scientists have been working on devices that enable invisibility cloaks – perhaps not yet concealing Harry Potter, but at least shielding small objects from detection by microwaves or sound waves.

Photo
May 30, 2012
52 notes
futurist-foresight: What can´t Graphene do? futurescope: Graphene used to rust-proof steel via gizmag Hexavalent chromium compounds are a key ingredient in coatings used to rust-proof steel. They also happen to be carcinogenic. Researchers, therefore, have been looking for non-toxic alternatives that could be used to keep steel items from corroding. Recently, scientists from the University at Buffalo announced that they have developed such a substance. It’s a varnish that incorporates graphene, the one-atom-thick carbon sheeting material that is the thinnest and strongest substance known to exist. […] [read more] [University of Buffalo]

futurist-foresight:

What can´t Graphene do?

futurescope:

Graphene used to rust-proof steel

via gizmag

Hexavalent chromium compounds are a key ingredient in coatings used to rust-proof steel. They also happen to be carcinogenic. Researchers, therefore, have been looking for non-toxic alternatives that could be used to keep steel items from corroding. Recently, scientists from the University at Buffalo announced that they have developed such a substance. It’s a varnish that incorporates graphene, the one-atom-thick carbon sheeting material that is the thinnest and strongest substance known to exist. […]

[read more] [University of Buffalo]