November 2017 – Page 10 – Tech Today w/ Ken May

Mars 2020 rover will observe the red planet with 23 eyes

The Mars 2020 rover will be able to show us more of the red planet than any of its predecessors ever did. NASA says the extraterrestrial vehicle will be equipped with 23 cameras , six more than Curiosity’s and all a lot more capable. Seven of those “eyes” are tasked with collecting data for scientific experiments, nine are engineering cameras that will keep an eye on its surroundings for navigation and the last seven will capture the rover’s descent and landing. Its main camera, however, is Mastcam-Z — an upgraded version of Curiosity’s Mastcam with a 3:1 zoom (hence, “Z”) lens the original didn’t have. Mastcam-Z will have the capability to take more 3D images than the first Mastcam and will give NASA scientists more info on the planet’s geological features. Meanwhile, the engineering/navigation cameras will be able to capture high-resolution, 20-megapixel colored images for the first time. Previous Navcams were only able to take one-megapixel black-and-white photos, so they have to capture several and stitch them together to be able to get a clear view of the surroundings. Since these new cameras have a wider field of view as well, they don’t have to waste time and processing power stitching photos together. The rover can spend that time collecting more samples and snapping more pictures instead. All those cameras will help the Mars 2020 rover achieve its goal to search for signs of past life on the red planet. Earlier this year, the agency picked three potential sites to drill, all of which have elements that could have supported life. Source: NASA

Cheapest Michelin-star meal in the world costs a mere $1.50

Most Michelin-starred restaurants are on the pricey side, although you do hear of the occasional food truck that earns a star. But this food cart in Singapore, Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice, run by 52-year-old master chef Chan Hon Meng, serves the “cheapest Michelin-starred meal in the world,” at just $1.50. Now, if I can just afford a ticket to Singapore.

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Cheapest Michelin-star meal in the world costs a mere $1.50

How a Stone Quarry Cuts Perfectly Rectangular Blocks Using a Ride-able Machine

As industrial designers, most of us are keenly aware of how plastic, metal, wood and glass are manipulated into objects. But stone is a lesser-used and more mysterious material; how exactly does a quarry turn what’s in the earth into a slab, and turn that slab into rectangular blocks? In this video shot at a stone quarry in Malta, we see that it requires first surfacing the top of the slab and then performing a series of “rip cuts” (we don’t get to see these two steps), then setting up a dolly track perpendicular to the initial cuts, something like the track of a tracksaw. Then a ride-able machine goes along the track making two cuts at once, while a trailing splitter separates the blocks and helps a second worker set them vertically: More Examples of How to Work Stone: How to Hand Drill Holes in Stone and Concrete How to Quickly Carve Stone Using Cheap Tools Ben Uyeda’s DIY Stone Bench CNC Wire Machines Can Cut Stone Into Crazy Shapes

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How a Stone Quarry Cuts Perfectly Rectangular Blocks Using a Ride-able Machine

Australia’s national broadband network under relentless attack—by cockatoos

Enlarge / I’m in ur tower, nommin ur Internets (credit: Tim Graham/Getty Images) Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN) , the effort to bring high-speed Internet to the masses down under, has encountered many speed bumps. The plan to bring fiber-optic broadband Internet to every Australian has been pared back in its ambitions, with a shift to a fiber backbone between “nodes” and distribution over copper wire or cable networks to the majority of users. That cost-saving move, which puts ISPs and cable providers in charge of managing customers’ access, has caused some consternation . But now the operators of the NBN have discovered another problem that affects the cost of delivering the backbone. And it’s for the birds. The BBC reports that NBN technicians have discovered cockatoos have been damaging the ends of spare fiber cables left in place on communications towers for future network expansion by chomping on them, wearing through the steel braiding that protects the fiber. Active cables haven’t been affected, so there has been no loss of service (as of yet) due to cockatoo attacks; the ends of cables carrying active traffic are protected by a plastic cages. But cables left with their ends exposed have become a favorite of the birds, who use them to help wear down their ever-growing beaks. And the cables cost AUS$10,000 (about US$7,700) to replace. NBN’s Chedryian Bresland told the BBC, “That’s Australia for you. If the spiders and snakes don’t get you, the cockies will.” Read 1 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Australia’s national broadband network under relentless attack—by cockatoos

Thieves pilfer $370,000 worth of iPhone Xs in San Francisco

Thieves broken into a UPS truck parked outside a San Francisco Apple Store and made off with 300 iPhone Xs valued at around $370, 000, CBS SF Bay Area reports. The suspects were “husky, ” and “wearing hooded sweatshirts, ” according to SFPD Captain Rick Yarid, adding “it appears [they] knew what they were looking for.” The UPS driver reportedly parked the vehicle outside a mall and went to do a delivery at a Macy’s when the thieves snatched the devices, according to a witness. “Given the dollar value in the incident itself it appears it was planned, ” said Yarid. UPS and Apple are assisting police, and the IMEI serial number of each phone has been recorded. That created one of the “fattest” police reports he’d ever seen, said SFPD Sgt. Paul Weggenmann. The phones will likely be blacklisted on all US cellular networks, but it’s a lot easier for thieves to change an EMEI before an iPhone is set up by a customer. Obviously, if you happen to see a particularly good deal on an iPhone X on the SF Craiglist, assume it’s stolen. So far, the iPhone X is Apple’s hottest-selling smartphone ever, with more than double the number ordered in the first few days than the previous champ, the iPhone 6S . Within minutes, the iPhone X sold out online, pushing orders well back from the original November 3rd ship date. This despite reports that the device, which is Apple’s first without a home button and with “Face ID” facial recognition security, is in short supply. As a result, folks have been queuing at Apple Stores as much as ever, hoping to get one in hand before they disappear. Luckily, folks who pre-ordered their iPhone Xs from the Stonestown Apple Store will still receive them on time, CNET reports. Via: MacRumors Source: CBS SF Bay Area

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Thieves pilfer $370,000 worth of iPhone Xs in San Francisco

Another Million Subscribers Cut the Pay TV Cord Last Quarter

A report from FierceCable says that a million more U.S. pay TV subscribers cut the TV cord last quarter. “Only five of the seven biggest pay TV providers have released their third quarter subscriber data, but collectively these companies saw a net loss of 632, 000 pay TV subscribers during the period (385, 000 for AT&T and DirecTV, 125, 000 for Comcast, 104, 000 for Charter, 18.000 for Verizon FiOS TV), ” reports DSLReports. “Dish has yet to report its own cord cutting tallies, but the company is again expected to be among the hardest hit due to a high level of retransmission fee feuds and a lack of broadband bundles.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Another Million Subscribers Cut the Pay TV Cord Last Quarter

Geode jigsaw puzzles

This stunning line of geologically-inspired jigsaw puzzles, named Geode, is the creation of Massachusetts-based generative design studio and retailer Nervous System . As described in their blog : Geode is a jigsaw puzzle inspired by the formation of agate, a colorful banded stone. Each puzzle is unique, emerging from a computer simulation that creates natural variations in the shape, pieces, and image. Hundreds of lasercut plywood pieces intertwine to form a challenging, maze-like puzzle. Each geode is a slice of an algorithmic rock. The puzzles are intricately cut in birch plywood, completely unique from each other, and available in two sizes (approx. 180 pieces for $60 and 370 pieces for $95 ). https://vimeo.com/239518266 ( My Modern Met )

Giant "void" detected in Great Pyramid

A new scanning technique has revealed what scientists believe is an empty space within the Great Pyramid at Gizeh . While it might be an architectural feature intended to limit the load upon the hallway beneath it, it could be a huge room. They also detected a smaller void at a different spot in the pyramid. “We don’t know whether this big void is horizontal or inclined; we don’t know if this void is made by one structure or several successive structures,” explained Mehdi Tayoubi from the HIP Institute, Paris. “What we are sure about is that this big void is there; that it is impressive; and that it was not expected as far as I know by any sort of theory.” … Much of the uncertainty comes down to the rather imprecise data gained from muography. This non-invasive technique has been developed over the past 50 years to probe the interiors of phenomena as diverse as volcanoes and glaciers. It has even been used to investigate the failed nuclear reactors at Fukushima.

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Giant "void" detected in Great Pyramid

Jellyfish-inspired e-skin glows when it’s in ‘pain’

Artificial skin stands to have a variety uses, with potential applications in everything from robots to prosthetics. And in recent years, researchers have been able to instill sensory perception, like touch and pressure, into artificial skin. However, while those sorts of senses will be incredibly important in engineered skin, they’ve so far been rather limited. For example, while current versions can be quite sensitive to light touch, they don’t fare so well with high pressures that could cause damage. So researchers at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China set out to fix that problem and they drew their inspiration from jellyfish. The Atolla jellyfish can sense pressure in its surroundings and emits bright flashes of light when attacked. To mimic that and combine visual signals with pressure sensing, the researchers placed small silver wires within a stretchy material, which was able to produce electrical signals when light pressure was applied to it. In between two layers of that material, the researchers added an additional layer, which was embedded with phosphors — particles that can luminesce — that lit up when strong pressure was applied. As increasing amounts of pressure were applied to the layered electronic skin , the phosphors lit up more and more and overall the skin was able to register a much wider range of pressure than other versions have been able to achieve. In the image below, you can see the phosphors light up when a transparent “W”-shaped slab is pressed into the activated electronic skin. The high pressures registered by the phosphors are around the levels that become painful to humans, meaning the luminescent material can play the role of pain sensors found in real human skin and create a visual representation of “pain.” Further, the full range of pressure that this skin can sense more closely matches what real human skin can feel. And as the researchers point out, this capability makes this particular electronic skin a promising potential component to human-machine interfaces and intelligent robots . The work was recently published in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces . Image: American Chemical Society Source: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces

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Jellyfish-inspired e-skin glows when it’s in ‘pain’

Ableton Live will remember your riffs if you forget to press record

Ableton Live is popular with computer musicians thanks to its flexibility. As the name suggests, it enables live performance of electronic music, but it’s also a robust music making tool in its own right. Fans of Live are long overdue an update, as the last full release (Live 9) was four years ago. Today Ableton revealed Live 10, which promises to make it even easier to translate ideas into anthems. Aside from Live’s double duty as performance and creation software, one of the biggest lures for budding producers is its workflow. Ableton designed Live to work on one screen, with clever shortcuts to jump between common tasks. Live 10 builds on that with new tools to do more with less. For starters, you can now edit multiple MIDI clips side by side, and zoom in for precision work with one key. Most musicians have struggled with getting a part of their track just right. Currently, if you start playing a project back, you won’t hear MIDI instruments until the next note in the clip. This means if you start playback mid-note, you won’t hear it — annoying for long strings sounds, for example. A new “Note chasing” feature solves that, meaning all notes will play even if halfway through. It’s a low key change, but one that will please anyone who’s heard the same part over and over again just to get to where you want to edit. For those (like me) who seem to give their best performance while not recording, there’s “Capture.” It sounds similar to a feature in Apple’s Logic Pro that remembers all MIDI input in the background, even if you’re not recording. So, if you happen to play a killer riff along to a beat, but weren’t recording, Live will have snagged it anyway so you can retrieve it. For advanced users, Ableton’s “Max for Live” kit has long allowed you to create tools like Capture , or software instruments from scratch. Max is now built right in to Live 10 (previously it was a $200 add-on), but it’s good to see some of the more popular ideas made in Max find their way into the standard version of the software. Other updates include a new built-in synthesizer call “Wavetable” for squelchy sounds a-la Stranger Things and three new audio effects (Pedal, Drum Buss and Echo). Owners of Push — Ableton’s companion hardware controller — can look forward to improved graphics and visualizations so you can keep your eyes away from the computer (and look less like you’re checking your email on stage). Despite the announcement today, eager users will still need to wait a little longer. Ableton Live 10 won’t be available until early 2018. The good news is, that you can snag a copy of Live 9 right now if you don’t already have it at 20 percent discount, which will automatically be upgraded to the new version once it lands. Once released, Live 10 will cost $449 for the standard version and $499 for the suite with all the software instruments (this is the one you probably want). Source: Ableton

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Ableton Live will remember your riffs if you forget to press record