Scientists discover underground river below the Amazon River

\m/

 

 

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Scientists discover underground river below the Amazon River

via SlashGear by Shane McGlaun on 8/29/11

Scientists have made a very wild discovery in the Amazon Basin. The mighty Amazon River is one of the largest and most impressive (and scariest) rivers on the planet. The Amazon ranges in width from 1km to 100km. It also flow very quickly in some areas at 133,000 meters squared of water each second at a rate of five meters per second. A team of scientists has discovered a much larger river about 4km under the Amazon River that dwarfs its surface counterpart.

The underground river was discovered by using data collected inside a series of 241 abandoned deep wells left over from oil drilling in the Amazon basin in the 70′s and 80′s by a company called Petrobras. The data shows that there is an underground river flowing at a snail's pace that is roughly as long as the 6,000km that the Amazon River spans.

The big differences include that the underground river, dubbed Rio Hamza after the leader of the scientific team, flows a mere millimeter per hour and its nearly twice as wide as the Amazon. Rio Hamza is 200km to 400km wide. The team thinks that the massive underground river could account for the reduced salinity in the waters at the mouth of the Amazon. The team says that in the next few years more research will confirm the flow with more measurements.

[via Guardian]

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Scientists discover underground river below the Amazon River is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Wise ants lead colony to new nest

 

 

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Wise ants lead colony to new nest

via BBC News - Home on 8/25/11

Ant colonies rely on knowledgeable individuals to guide them to a new nest site when theirs is destroyed, according to scientists.

 

 

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Portal Video Game Live Action Video Short Blows Internet Away

 

 

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Portal Video Game Live Action Video Short Blows Internet Away

via SlashGear by Chris Burns on 8/24/11

An "amateur" filmmaker by the name of Dan Trachtenberg has created a short movie by the name of "Portal: No Escape", the entirety of which you can watch in under 6 minutes, the enjoyment out of which you'll be glad you harvested. This movie is available for viewing below and takes the ultra-popular cult-classic game series Portal and turns it into a fan film of sorts for the enjoyment of all. Portal game addicts as well as everyday science fiction and action lovers will be glad they took 7 minutes out of their day to take a peek.

As you may already be well aware, fans of Portal (and the more recent release of the game Portal 2) are crazy people. They like to do all sorts of things to show how much they love the game, a simple task for many due to the versatility and heavy marketability of the game's contents. Build your own reality is indeed the credo here for the fanbase of the game, and Trachtenberg and his crew have decided to take things up a notch. Have a look at the full video here:

From what we understand at the moment, this film has been made with no formal connections to Valve (the developers behind Portal) and entirely for the fun of it. Though that's never the full story, of course, so we're hoping this video garners some attention for all of the participants so that they can at least create more fantastic effects-driven films in the future, if not a full-blown Portal flick. If anyone has any additional information they'd like to toss our way, feel free!

NOTE: it's come to our attention that one of the guards in the movie is billed as Diggnation co-host Alex Albrecht. According to Trachtenberg's portfolio site, he's also done a commercial for Diggnation alongside several other advertisements for big brands such as Coca-Cola and Lexus. What we're thinking now is that Trachtenberg did indeed do this project for the fun of it and to promote himself by calling in favors from all over the place, former clients included. High quality cameras, cinematography, and special effects don't come cheap, after all, and such a top-class fan film would otherwise cost a high amount of bucks. Glad it went through, one way or another!

ALSO note that @DannyTRS, aka Trachtenberg himself, tweeted that his #PortalNoEscape video would be played tonight on Attack of the Show tonight on G4 at 4:30 PST! Cool beans.

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Portal Video Game Live Action Video Short Blows Internet Away is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Is Anything Really Necessary?

http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/yFFedouZMWo/

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C 0x Is Unanimously Approved

http://osnews.com/story/25063/C_0x_Is_Unanimously_Approved
Hurrah :D
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Google Chrome Beta gets big improvements with Native client

http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/1Gq7RevElfQ/
Good stuff
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Samsung escapes Dutch injunction: Accuses Apple of design generalization

http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/sG0kHku1jeU/
Samsung FTW :D
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Apple v. Samsung in The Netherlands, Day 2

http://osnews.com/story/25057/Apple_v_Samsung_in_The_Netherlands_Day_2
The knight rider comes to the rescue, along with 20 other tablets and smartphones ;p
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Texas town recycling urine into drinking water

http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/eWp8XsTNikc/
isn't urine mixed with other waste (e.g. poo) in the sewage systems? :p
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LAN-connected washing machine sends network notification when clothes are done

I will implement something like that for every device in my home :P

 

 

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LAN-connected washing machine sends network notification when clothes are done

via SlashGear by Shane McGlaun on 8/8/11

One of the things that I dislike most about washing clothes is that I always forget to check the machine and my stuff sits there until it is nearly dry and wrinkled up. One geek had a washing machine with a notoriously inaccurate timer and he got tired of having to trek down to the basement to check clothes so he hacked up something to tell him when the clothes were done. The result is a cool notification system that can be checked from a computer.

The dude took an Arduino board and cobbled together a system that replaced the LED light that showed when the clothes were done and notified him over the network. He removed those LEDs and soldered wires to the place the lights used to be and connected to the Arduino. The Arduino unit senses when the lights would activate and shoots a signal across the network.

The Arduino device uses an Ethernet shield to allow the monitoring of the washing machine from any computer hooked to the network. I think you could do the same with a wireless video camera and that might be easier, but admittedly not as geeky.

[via Hackaday]

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LAN-connected washing machine sends network notification when clothes are done is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
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VLC D-Light LED networking takes on WiFi and GPS [Video]

Of course (and obviously, might I add), the ancient Greeks had already harnessed this technology :P

 

 

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VLC D-Light LED networking takes on WiFi and GPS [Video]

via SlashGear by Chris Davies on 8/8/11

Another optical WLAN project has demonstrated the potential for using LED lighting as a method of data transmission, with University of Edinburgh professor Harald Haas showing the 10 MBit/sec in action. Presenting a prototype anglepoise lamp at TED this month – you can watch the video after the cut – Haas illustrated how rapidly flickering the LED – faster than the human eye can discern – can allow it to embed the data for streaming video playback. Meanwhile, the technology – which Haas has dubbed D-Light, and hopes to commercialize under the new VLC (Visible Light Communications) brand – could also have applications in mobile location and positioning services.

As with the Fraunhofer Institute LED networking system we wrote about earlier this month, D-Light relies on a tiny photo diode in the receiving gadget that can decode the flickering message from the light itself. Haas suggests that the integrated cameras found in many mobile devices – such as phones and laptops – could be upgraded to support faster refresh times, and thus double as photoreceptors for the D-Light system.

Currently, the D-Light demo runs at 10 MBit/sec, but Haas expects that to scale to 100 MBit/s by the end of this year and possibly up to 1 GBit/s in the future. Although it demands line-of-sight, the researcher bills that as a potential security benefit: since you can see where the light is reaching, it's easy to adjust coverage so that data is only transmitted where you want it to go, unlike the more blanket approach of WiFi.

As for positioning and location, Haas suggests that the relatively small coverage area of each light network node means an embedded identity code – transmitted along with the other data – would be more useful for indicating where a device was physically. Signal strength (light intensity) and time-of-arrival calculations (where three simultaneously-transmitted signals arrive at the device at slightly different points, based on where you stand in relation to those transmitters) could then pinpoint the location of the receiver, and even the height. Alternatively angle-of-reception could be used.

Unlike GPS, D-Light based positioning could be used indoors and also be a source of network connectivity. Haas sees anything with lighting being upgraded, not so much replacing WiFi in our smartphones and laptops but adding interconnectivity between traffic lights and car lights, between hospital equipment, and turning each streetlamp into a "Li-Fi" access point. When VLC will actually begin shipping products remains to be seen, however.

[via Google+]

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VLC D-Light LED networking takes on WiFi and GPS [Video] is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Lego Minifigs to Accompany Juno Space Probe Mission

:D Androids and Legos :D

 

 

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Lego Minifigs to Accompany Juno Space Probe Mission

via SlashGear by Chris Burns on 8/3/11

Launching this Friday will be NASA's Atlas V rocket containing not only its most important piece of equipment, the Juno space probe, but three little Lego minifigs as well. Included in this mission will be Lego likenesses of Italian astronomer Galileo, Roman god Jupiter, and Jupiter's sister Juno, these toys soon to be the furthest flung toys in history. The rocket will be heading to Jupiter on a five-year trip that will be a joint mission between NASA and Lego, each of the special minifigs affixed to the spacecraft for a (hopefully) safe journey all the way.

Each of the figures are milled from aluminum and will be traveling with the Atlas V rocket through 2016 where the figs will be having quite the view of our galaxy's largest planet Jupiter. It was NASA who approached Lego for this installation, and the folks at Lego, being the adventurous types they are, decided the idea of sending some of their most fantastically simple friends along for the ride would be an awesome idea. Both groups have stated that they're seeing the project as a way to promote STEM programs and children's education.

The cost of creating these one of a kind figures was $5,000 PER figure, each of them underwrote by Lego of course and thus far only made for the project itself. The manufacturing of each of these figures was a deliberate process ensuring no part of the project would be any bit of interference for NASA's sensitive measurements for the mission. Each minifig attached to the space probe is essentially the same size as the average minifig you've got sitting on your desk at home.

Once the mission arrives in July of 2016, the space probe Juno will collect information on the planet Jupiter itself, its moons, and its atmosphere. Once the probe has orbited the planet for one year, that being right around 33 orbits, NASA will purposefully de-orbit the probe and crash it into the planet's surface. Those who wish to follow the Lego mission can do so at LEGOspace.com, and be sure to let us know if they've gone to Pluto instead!

Just so you know, the launch of JUNO, aka the Lego mission, is 11:40 A.M. EDT on the 5th of August – that's only two days from now!

[via Wired]

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Lego Minifigs to Accompany Juno Space Probe Mission is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Antimatter belt 'surrounds Earth'

\m/ we are surrounded :P all hope is gone. we must surrender :P otherwise, pretty interesting stuff :)

 

 

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Antimatter belt 'surrounds Earth'

via BBC News - Home on 8/7/11

Researchers discover that the Earth's magnetic field holds around it a band of antimatter particles between the bands of "normal" matter particles.

 

 

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Military lightning gun parts sold on eBay, probably built in someone's garage

Cool :P US military FTW

 

 

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Military lightning gun parts sold on eBay, probably built in someone's garage

via Engadget by Terrence O'Brien on 8/5/11

We're not sure where to start with this one. It's, in a word, unbelievable. Technologist Cody Oliver was digging through eBay for parts to build a robot car that Elon Musk could drive around Burning Man, when he came across surplus equipment from defense contractors Omnitech Robotics and Ionatron. The components were originally from the military's Joint Improvised Explosive Device Neutralizers, or JINs -- remote-controlled lightning guns designed to disable IEDs. But, the story quickly goes from interesting to terrifying. Oliver soon discovered the weapons were cobbled together largely from off-the-shelf parts, including a Linksys router with the serial numbers scraped off, and lacked even basic security. The now retired JINs were controlled over a standard 802.11 WiFi signal, with the encryption turned off -- leaving the multimillion dollar devices vulnerable to insurgents. Ultimately the parts were deemed unfit for even Musk's RC art car. You can read all of the horrifying details at the source link.

[Thanks, Chris]

[Image credit: Cody Oliver]

Military lightning gun parts sold on eBay, probably built in someone's garage originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Aug 2011 20:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Android app tethers handsets to Canon cams, live view fanboys rejoice (video)

A reason to buy a Canos EOS DSLR (except them being the finest of the DSLRs) :P

 

 

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Android app tethers handsets to Canon cams, live view fanboys rejoice (video)

via Engadget by Dante Cesa on 8/6/11

We're living in a post-pc world, folks. High time you got with the program and junked that heavy and outmoded relic called the computer. But how does one take tethered snaps from a Canon, sans EOS Utility? Meet DSLR Controller, an Android app from Chainfire that turns your little green robot into an external live view monitor, and gives you complete control over your shooter's finer sensibilities. It lets you tweak exposure, aperture, shutter, white balance and focus with sensuous swipes of your fingertip. To make the whole shindig work, you'll need an Android device packing a USB host port and an "on-the-go" USB cable -- which lets your handset wear the pants in the phone / DSLR relationship. We should also warn you that the $8.51 application is currently still in beta and thus streams video in live view mode at a less than optimal 15fps. Those and other foibles may be remedied by the final release, but if you're looking to practice your tethering voodoo immediately, hit the source below, and watch a vid of your photographic future after the break.

Continue reading Android app tethers handsets to Canon cams, live view fanboys rejoice (video)

Android app tethers handsets to Canon cams, live view fanboys rejoice (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 06 Aug 2011 04:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink SlashGear  |  DSLR Controller (Android Market)  | Email this | Comments

 

 

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Internet Explorer IQ research a hoax

http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/4KipPziDVHI/
What a relief for the ie fans out there ;p
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IE users have lower IQ says study

http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/technology-14370878
The statistics spoke. It is undeniable and, therefore, it has been decreed as a law :p
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German geniuses hit 800Mbps with light bulb WLAN

 

 

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German geniuses hit 800Mbps with light bulb WLAN

via Engadget by Terrence O'Brien on 8/1/11

Last year, Chinese scientists showed off some new old-school tech, transmitting data with blue LEDs that flicker faster than the human eye can perceive. This throwback back to the good ol' days of IR receivers was able to hit speeds of 2Mbps, but leave it to the fine folks at the Heinrich Hertz Institute to push the light bulb networking tech to the extremes. Earlier this year researchers hit 500Mbps with white LEDs now, using a combination of white, green, blue, and red, the team ramped that up to 800Mbps, officially putting Ethernet on notice. The line-of-site networking wont actually replace your standard Cat 5 line or WiFi router, but it could find a home in places like hospitals where radio-based wireless technology can cause problems for sensitive equipment. With any luck, we'll soon be bathing our homes in HD-streaming illumination.

German geniuses hit 800Mbps with light bulb WLAN originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 16:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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An iOS Developer Takes on Android

 

 

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An iOS Developer Takes on Android

via OSNews by donotreply@osnews.com (David Adams) on 8/1/11

Recently, we released the Android version of Meridian, our platform for building location-based apps. We didn’t use one of these "Cross Platform!" tools like Titanium. We wrote it, from scratch, in Java, like you do in Android . . . So, we rolled up our sleeves, downloaded the Android SDK, and got to work.

 

 

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LEGO R2D2 robot is remote controlled and packed with awesome

http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/1I7kJ0jz4AY/

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