After a violent storm ripped through the Irish town of Collooney, locals were shocked to discover the remains of a 1, 000-year-old skeleton hanging from the roots of a fallen tree. Read more…
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Medieval Skeleton Found Dangling From the Roots of a Fallen Tree
Airbag jackets for motorcyclists typically rely on the bike to activate the safety features, which, in some cases, could be a bit tricky. Dainese remedied the issue by packing all of the requisite tech inside the jacket itself on its D-air Misano 1000. The collection of sensors, GPS and other electronics that are housed in the back protector “monitor the dynamics of the rider’s body 800 times a second” and deploy the airbag when they detect impact or tumbling. As you might expect, there’s an on/off switch to activate the system when you’re in the saddle and an LED status like keeps your informed of its status. Looking to snag one? The D-air Misano 1000 will arrive in November for €1, 499 (around $1, 700). Filed under: Transportation Comments Via: Gizmag , Gizmodo Source: Dainese Tags: airbagjacket, d-airmisano1000, dainese, jacket, motorcycle, safety, transportation
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Dainese’s airbag jacket doesn’t rely on a motorcycle to activate
Plex isn’t the only one bringing a fan-favorite media app to the new Apple TV . Jean-Baptiste Kempf has quietly revealed that VLC , VideoLAN’s signature media player, will reach Apple’s latest set-top box. It’s still early, but this could open up your playback options for music and video — you may have more choices for formats and sources than you get out of the box. While you aren’t going to get total freedom (you certainly won’t be playing DVDs on an Apple TV), this beats having to rely primarily on streaming services. Filed under: Home Entertainment , Software , HD , Apple Comments Via: VentureBeat Source: Jean-Baptiste Kempf Tags: app, apple, appletv, hdpostcross, internet, streaming, videolan, vlc
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VLC’s media player app will launch on Apple TV
We’ve come a long way since the days of pouring wax into our ears to block out siren songs . A team of researchers at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology have developed a sound-cancelling system that eliminates 99.7 percent of noise, no matter how quiet. Typically, passive sound deadening technologies have relied on materials that simple absorb sound waves (and usually only along a narrow band of frequencies). But even the most absorbent material tends to scatter some of the sound incoming sound waves. As such, this new system absorbs incoming sounds not once but twice. It uses a pair of ” impedance-matched ” resonators. These are devices that naturally vibrate at a specific frequency and, in the case of “impedance-matching”, that frequency is equal to that of the the background medium (whatever the resonator is mounted to). The first resonator eliminates a majority of the incoming sound waves. However at very low energy levels (ie very quiet sounds), even the best resonator tends to scatter a little bit of the sound at its own frequency. That’s where the second resonator comes in — it’s tuned precisely to the first resonator’s frequency, allowing it create destructive interference for any sound the first resonator scatters. This single-layer system builds and improves upon the team’s earlier work, published last year in Nature . That study fit a soft absorbent layer atop a hard reflective one and separated them with a thin layer of air. The idea was that any sound that got through the soft layer would bounce off the reflective layer and cancel out any incoming sound waves . [Image Credit: AFP/Getty Images] Filed under: Science Comments Via: Motherboard Source: Applied Physics Letters Tags: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, HongKong, NoiseCancelling, resonator, sounddampening
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Researchers create a near-perfect sound absorbing system
Nevada’s Transportation Authority has granted both Uber and Lyft permits to operate in the state, a few days after approving new rules for ride-hailing services. Those include having to pay administrative fees and to stick decals onto cars that are part of the companies’ fleets. That doesn’t mean you can hail a ride from either app right now, though: neither company has a firm launch date yet. They still have to deal with Clark County officials who refuse to let the companies run their business until they have the proper license. Problem is, the county doesn’t even have a licensing category for ride-sharing/hailing services yet. Clark County plans to start working on a legal framework today, but it could take several weeks to complete the process. That said, both companies hope to begin offering rides in Nevada soon — a Lyft spokesperson even told Tri-City Herald that they are legally required to deploy cars in the state by October 15th. Uber was already available in Nevada last year, but it got suspended after being slapped with a preliminary injunction due to security and insurance concerns. In order to get approval from authorities to operate an unlimited fleet for $500, 000, it had to promise to address four minor issues. Lyft was allowed to deploy 2, 500 cars for $150, 000 if it fixes the Department of Insurance’s concerns about its insurance policy and alter the language for part of its terms of service. [Image credit: Shutterstock] Filed under: Transportation Comments Source: Tri-City Herald , Las Vegas Sun , Reno Gazette-Journal Tags: lasvegas, lyft, nevada, permit, uber
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Uber and Lyft officially allowed to operate in Nevada
In the 150 years since Charles Darwin recognised the kinship of all life, scientists have worked to fulfil his dream of a complete Tree of Life . Today, the methods used to trace the evolutionary branches back through time would exceed Darwin’s expectations. Scientists across a range of biological disciplines use a technique called the molecular clock , where the past is deciphered by reading the stories written in the genes of living organisms. Read more…
A US district court has struck down an 11-year-old gag order imposed by the FBI on Nicolas Merrill , the former head of a small internet service provider. Originally issued in 2004, it forbade Merrill from revealing that he’d received a so-called national security letter (NSL), a warrantless demand for customer data. The Electronic Frontier Foundation believes about 300, 000 such letters have been sent since the Patriot Act was enacted in 2001, but the decision signals the first time that a gag order has been lifted. “Courts cannot, consistent with the First Amendment, simply cannot accept the Government’s assertions that disclosure would… create a (public) risk, ” said Judge Victor Marrero. With the Patriot Act, Congress handed the FBI, NSA and other agencies the authority to demand phone and email records — but not their contents — from service providers, email services or social networks like Facebook . All it had to do was write a letter, sans warrant, saying it needed the data for national security reasons. On top of that, it usually gagged companies from revealing they even received NSLs, saying such disclosure could hamper investigations. Merrill was the first person to challenge a gag order and never complied with the FBI’s original request for his customer’s information. Though his internet company ceased operations long ago, he created the Calyx Institute to inform the public about digital privacy and help other service providers build it into their products. In a Washington Post opinion piece, he said he the ongoing gag order had become a burden since he now speaks about privacy issues in public. Proud to announce that I have won in federal court AGAIN and that my 11yr old #NSL gag order has been struck down https://t.co/0CrvNh1Cau — Nicholas Merrill (@nickcalyx) September 14, 2015 Earlier this year, the White House said that NSL gag orders must be lifted after three years or the close of an investigation, whichever comes first. Unfortunately, the decision wasn’t applied retroactively, so the FBI kept Merrill muzzled, even though its case against his client ended prior to 2010. Merrill said the agency isn’t motivated by legitimate national security concerns, but rather “a desire to insulate (itself) from public criticism and oversight.” Earlier this year, Merrill was granted permission to inform his customer that he’d been targeted by the feds. Unless the government appeals within 90 days, he’ll soon be free to disclose exactly which records the FBI ordered him to give up. “I hope today’s victory will finally allow Americans to engage in an informed debate about proper the scope of the government’s warrantless surveillance powers, ” he said. [Image credit: Getty Images] Filed under: Science Comments Via: The Intercept Source: US District Court , Nicholas Merrill (Twitter) Tags: FBI, GagOrder, NationalSecurityLetter, NicholasMerrill, NSL, privacy
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ISP wins 11-year battle to reveal warrantless FBI spying
Britain wants to be at the forefront of driverless car technology, so it’s funding a handful of research projects that will look at different vehicle designs and how people react to them. One of those initiatives, led by Transport Systems Catapult and the RDM Group, is inching closer towards public trials today with the unveiling of a new “Lutz Pathfinder” pod. We first saw the vehicle back in February , covered with Union Jack decals, but that was actually just a prototype. The new two-seater pod unveiled this morning is far closer to completion — it just needs to visit Oxford University’s Mobile Robotics Group, where it’ll be fitted with an autonomous control system. Researchers will then do a number of calibration tests on a private test track, before it’s finally sent out for public testing in Milton Keynes. Slideshow-319650 If all goes to plan, the Lutz Pathfinder will be the first fully automated vehicle to be trialled in a pedestrianised space in the UK. “When you consider that there wasn’t even a design in place for this vehicle less than 18 months ago, it has been a really quick turnaround, ” Steve Yianni, CEO for Transport Systems Catapult said. Safety is, unsurprisingly, the project’s primary concern. When it first hits the pavement, the pods will be driven manually so they can map their surroundings. They’ll then drive autonomously, with a trained operator on board that can override the controls if necessary. Transport Systems Catapult hopes the pods will eventually be used as a mode of public transport, with the option for commuters to summon them with their smartphone. It’s a long, arduous process, but the UK government is praying that its efforts will make it an early pioneer in self-driving technology, and eventually pay dividends as car makers grow increasingly dependent on it. Filed under: Transportation Comments Tags: driverless, DriverlessCars, lutz, pathfinder, pod, selfdriving, SelfDrivingCar
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UK’s first driverless ‘pod’ readies itself for public trials
Ever had a Facebook friend send an event invitation that you ignored, whether it was because you couldn’t attend or (let’s be honest) had no interest in going? Unfortunately, you may have to explain yourself in the near future. Facebook has confirmed to The Daily Dot that it’s testing event read receipts which tell organizers when you’ve seen an invitation, making it clear when you’re avoiding things. Ostensibly, this is to help event creators message the right people. However, it really amounts to (as the New York Times ‘ Daniel Victor puts it ) a “friendship destruction device” — take a glimpse at that polka party invite and you may need to come up with an excuse to avoid alienating a long-time pal. The good news? There’s no certainty that Facebook will roll out the feature to everyone, so you might not be making enemies any time soon. [Image credit: Adam Berry/Getty Images] This is what Facebook’s new friendship destruction device (event read receipts) looks like pic.twitter.com/Nv1IZfnCJ6 — Daniel Victor (@bydanielvictor) September 14, 2015 Filed under: Internet , Facebook Comments Via: The Daily Dot , The Next Web Source: Daniel Victor (Twitter) Tags: facebook, internet, socialnetwork, socialnetworking
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Facebook’s new read receipts promise to ruin your friendships
Apple’s iOS devices have long included apps that you’re unlikely to use (do you really need a stock tracker?), and that list only seems to be getting longer . That’s potentially a big problem, especially when the company is still shipping 16GB flagship iPhones where every megabyte counts. However, there might be some relief in sight. In a chat with BuzzFeed News , CEO Tim Cook says that his company will eventually “figure out a way” for you to remove some of those apps. You won’t get to yank all of them (that “might cause issues” with some device features, Cook says), but this could spare you from creating a folder for the bundled apps that would otherwise gather virtual dust. There’s no timetable for when this will happen, so don’t be surprised if you end up waiting a while to clean up your home screens. However, the very mention of the idea represents a shift in Apple’s stance toward bundled apps. Cook wants you “to be happy” with your gear, not to “suck up your real estate.” To him, it’s better to let you purge some software than to risk losing a customer. Filed under: Cellphones , Tablets , Mobile , Apple Comments Source: BuzzFeed News Tags: app, apple, apps, bloatware, ios, ipad, iphone, mobilepostcross, smartphone, tablet, timcook
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Apple will (eventually) let you remove some of its iOS apps