Future cars may give themselves dimples to reduce drag

Future cars may give themselves dimples to reduce drag

Jon Fingas

Engadget

Golf balls are dimpled for a reason -- they sail through the air just slowly enough that the uneven surface reduces drag, helping them fly farther than they might otherwise. Wouldn't it be nice if your car could get that kind of aerodynamic boost?

 It might, if MIT's newly developed morphable surface becomes a practical reality. The technology creates dimples on the fly by sucking the air out of a hollow ball with both a stiff, rubber-like skin on top and a soft material just below. The result is odd-looking to say the least, but it's effective. It can wrinkle itself to cut down on air resistance when it's traveling slowly, yet smooth itself out to minimize drag at high speed.

Vehicles would be the most likely to benefit from the concept, and researchers already foresee transportation whose panels dimple to improve your mileage. However, the shrinking surfaces would be useful for completely stationary objects, too -- radar domes and other vulnerable buildings could suck in their exteriors to minimize wind resistance and prevent a collapse. MIT still has a lot of work to do before these wrinkling materials reach shipping products, but don't be surprised if you're eventually driving a car that looks like something Titleist would make.

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Record breaking 388,985 tweets

A record breaking 388,985 tweets a minute were sent during World Cup match

by Dan Hull

Neowin 

A recent World Cup match that saw host country Brazil play against Chile generated a record breaking 388,985 tweets a minute (TPM) during the final moments of the game. The match concluded with Brazil going through to the quarter-finals after a penalty shoot-out, where Chile's Gonzalo Jara missed the final goal.

Twitter also revealed how the renowned Brazilian striker, Neymar, was the most mentioned player in the swarm of tweets. This is understandable when he scored the team's final penalty, pushing Brazil through to the next round. It may be worth noting that his goal caused a spike of 239,219 tweets per minute, and it wasn't until Jara's failed attempt at scoring, that the statistic shot up to its 388,985 glory.

Overall, the game caused a stir of over 16.3 million tweets during the match, the highest ever for a live event on Twitter. In addition, the social network has said that over 300 million tweets had been sent since the tournaments group stages began. This has resulted in the World Cup to be "one of the most talked about events on Twitter of all time."

Previously the record had been set at 382,000 tweets per minute during the hugely popular Super Bowl. As to what the final of the World Cup will bring, only time will tell.

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Shoe trends for spring 2014: mid heels, hip sandal this summer

Shoe trends for spring 2014: mid heels, hip sandal this summer

After showing you the major trends for spring & summer 2014 in terms of clothing, it’s now time for the all-important shoes!

As most of you will know, I believe that the right shoes can add a lot to an outfit. Shoes can set the mood and often they will add a young & hip element to your outfit. There is no limit to what you can do with shoes. For more on this topic also see my article on how to have fun with shoes.

This week we will focus on mid heel shoes. Yes, I realise that some of you may not consider some of these shoes mid heel, but wait until you see the high heels!

Mid heel shoes are a great option for those days and evening when you want to wear heels, but still want to be able to walk decently. They are my shoes of choice whenever I have an event.

This season we have a lot of fun shoes to choose from! From closed to open booties, funky sandals and pretty pumps to blocky color blocked platforms.

Texture, open toe booties and color blocking

Some of the themes for this year’s shoes include the use of texture, color blocking, open toe booties. Examples can be found in the image above.

Arty, textured and colorful

Another major trend are colorful and arty kitten heels. Gold is very popular both for flats (more on that next week) and heeled shoes alike. The arty heels fit right into the arty and colorful trend. Pumps tend to be pointy toed.

Hipsandal this summer

pointy shoes are very hip this season and they are certainly on my wish list (if I can ever find ones that fit my wide feet).

But if you want to give your feet a break and let your toes feel the fresh breeze this summer, you may like to consider the arty open sandal instead.

Sandals with embellishments

Another major trend is the embellished sandals. Funky and hip!

Gold and silver

Both gold and silver shoes are popular. So take your pick!

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Colombia beats Uruguay 2-0 at World Cup

Colombia beats Uruguay 2-0 at World Cup

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) With a spectacular swivel-and-strike, James Rodriguez provided one of the highlights of the World Cup and gave Brazil reason to worry.
Rodriguez scored one of the best goals of the tournament and added a second to put Colombia into the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time with a 2-0 win over Uruguay on Saturday - setting up a meeting with the host nation.

Rodriguez added to his growing list memorable moments in Brazil when he gave his team the lead with a long-range volley as he turned in the 28th minute. He scored the second from close range shortly after the break as Colombia dominated an Uruguay side that sorely missed banned striker Luis Suarez.
''I think now the toughest is coming up,'' Rodriguez said of the quarterfinal match against Brazil. ''I'm happy because we are making history and as a young man I dreamed of being here. And of course we want to do even more.''

Rodriguez now has a tournament-leading five goals in Brazil and further enhanced his status as perhaps the World Cup's biggest revelation. In the absence of injured star Radamel Falcao, the Monaco winger has become the focal point of a Colombia team that won all three of its group games with impressive attacking play.

Uruguay, meanwhile, simply couldn't find anyone to fill the absence of Suarez. The team struggled badly in attack and replacement striker Diego Forlan was substituted in the 53rd after a disappointing performance in what was likely his final World Cup appearance.

Colombia is playing its first World Cup since 1998 and has already achieved its best-ever result.
''Congratulations to all the Colombian people,'' said coach Jose Pekerman, who is from Argentina. ''The people in Colombia deserve this.''
Colombia will play Brazil in the quarterfinals on July 4 in Fortaleza after the host nation beat Chile in a penalty shootout earlier Saturday.

But Rodriguez showed once again that the Brazilians have every reason to be wary of Colombia.
The opener was his most spectacular goal yet. He chested the ball down with his back to goal well outside the area and in one fluid motion turned around and fired a left-foot volley that went off the underside of the crossbar and into the net.
It was a goal that came seemingly out of nowhere and provided another example of the technique and creativity that has made Rodriguez one of the standout players of the tournament.

Uruguay defender Alvaro Pereira tried to clear the ball with a diving header, but it went straight to Abel Aguilar, who headed it forward toward Rodriguez.

His maneuver only took a split second and left goalkeeper Fernando Muslera flailing helplessly as the ball looped over him and into the net. Rodriguez ran over the corner flag and thrust both hands out to his sides in a ''how about that'' gesture.
''I think he is the best player of the tournament so far,'' Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez said.

Rodriguez's second was a perfectly executed team move as Colombia worked the ball over from the right flank to the left, where Pablo Armero sent in a cross that was met by Juan Cuadrado at the far post. Cuadrado headed back across goal toward Rodriguez, who slotted in from just a few yards (meters) out.
This time, the entire team ran over the corner flag for a celebratory dance.

Tabarez tried to respond with a double substitution, taking off Forlan and Alvaro Pereira for Gaston Ramirez and Cristhian Stuani. That livened up the attack, with goalkeeper David Ospina having to make good saves from Cristhian Rodriguez and Maxi Pereira before diving to push away a shot from Edinson Cavani in the 84th.
But in the end Uruguay simply couldn't cope without Suarez, who was banned for four months for biting an opponent in the group-stage victory against Italy that sent the team through to the next round. Suarez also missed Uruguay's first game of the tournament, a 3-1 loss to Costa Rica, before scoring both goals in a 2-1 win over England.

''We all knew what happened, but we had to forget about it and think positive,'' Tabarez said. ''Suarez is a great player, and I don't need to say it. He is very important. But we knew he wasn't going to play.''

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"Unusual Places Around The World"

"Unusual Places Around The World"

The Devil’s Bridge :

Image Credit: cнαт-ɴoιr/Flickr

The Devil’s Bridge (Rakotzbrücke) was built almost 150 years ago, back in 1860. Because of the unique construction accuracy, the bridge and its reflection merge into a perfect circle, regardless of the point of observation. This extraordinary sight is beloved spot of the professional photographers.

Location: Kromlauer Park, Gablenz, Saxony, Germany

MOON BRIDGE IN TAIWAN:

A moon bridge is a highly arched pedestrian bridge, which in its wooden form may require the walker to initially climb (as one would a ladder) and also when descending. The moon bridge originated from China and was later introduced to Japan and Taiwan.

Location: Taipei, Taiwan.

THE GHOST TOWER: A VICTIM OF THE TIMES:

Back in the 1990s, Thailand’s economy was booming and the future was as bright as it had ever been. Things were going so well that developers were seeing tall office buildings everywhere and residential skyscrapers, a true show of the nation’s wealth.

Sadly, Thailand’s poor investments and large number of debts sunk the country’s economy in what is now known as the “1997 Asian Financial Crisis.” Due to lack of funding, all the building development came to a screeching halt, as the dreams of sky-scraping opulence suddenly faded.The Sathorn Unique building was among the buildings that fell victim to the Asian Financial Crisis. Many of the towers that were being developed prior to the economic crash were eventually completed, or are about to, but this one remains in ruin. Although once on its way to becoming one of Bangkok’s most beautiful buildings, the Sathorn Unique is now a creepy reminder of what Thailand dreamed of becoming.The commercial brochure is a sad reminder of how the tower was envisioned. It names the Sathorn Unique Tower as being the best place to overlook the grand cityscape; with 659 residential units and 54 retails, the 49-story building was set to become one of Bangkok’s most important landmarks. Sadly, however, the tower now looks more like what was left after an atomic apocalypse than anything else

Location: Yan Nawa, Sathon, Bangkok 10120, Thailand ‎

MADAIN SALEH

The Abu Lawha, the largest Nabataean tomb at the desert archaeological site of Madain Saleh, in Al Ula city, 1043 km (648 miles) northwest of the capital Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Madain Saleh, also known as Al-Hijr, which was added on July 6, 2008 to UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Madain Saleh, the largest conserved site of the civilization of the Nabataeans south of Petra in Jordan, Madain Saleh is the first World Heritage site in Saudi Arabia.

Madain Saleh grave.

Mada’in Saleh, also called Al-Hijr or Hegra, is a pre-Islamic archaeological site. A majority of the vestiges date from the Nabatean kingdom (1st century CE). The site constitutes the kingdom’s southernmost and largest settlement after Petra, its capital. Traces of Lihyanite and Roman occupation before and after the Nabatean rule, respectively, can also be found in situ,[5] while accounts from the Qur’an tell of an earlier settlement of the area by the tribe of Thamud in the 3rd millennium BC.

Location: The archaeological site of Mada’in Saleh is situated 20 km (12.4 mi) north of the Al-`Ula town, 400 km (248.5 mi) north-west of Medina, and 500 km (310.7 mi) south-east of Petra, in modern-day Jordan.

“UNDERWATER WATERFALL” :

About 1,200 miles off the southeast coast of Africa lies an island known as Mauritius that gives off the illusion of an underwater waterfall at the southwestern tip of the island. The visually deceiving impression, created in the water due to the runoff of sand and silt deposits, is especially effective and stunning in aerial shots. In fact, the illusion can even be seen on Google Maps.
Towering high above is Le Morne Brabant, a basaltic monolith with a summit 556 m (1,824 ft) above sea level. The summit covers an area of over 12 hectares (30 acres) and is situated on Le Morne Brabant peninsula. The area (Le Morne Cultural Landscape) is also recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site
Location: MAURITIUS ISLAND

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Bieber versus Brown!

Bieber versus Brown! Justin and Chris battle it out on opposite teams at BET Celebrity Basketball Game

Justin Bieber and Chris Brown may both be world famous singers, but they were on opposite sides during a celebrity basketball game on Saturday. 

The singers looked rather sweaty as they posed together at the Sprite Celebrity Basketball Game during the 2014 BET Experience at L.A. LIVE.

Their team affiliations were represented by Justin wearing a green Sprite tank top and Chris decked out in a white one.

While Bieber is used to showing off on stage by himself, he took the opportunity to do some showboating as part of a team.

The 20-year-old singer shared a photo to Instagram hanging from one arm off the rim of the hoop which he captioned, 'Had to reverse yam it in the BET celeb basketball game lmao.'

With his right arm holding him up, Justin stuck his tongue out Miley Cyrus style as he swayed above the court.

He teamed the green tank top over a black T-shirt, black shorts with matching knee-high socks and a pair of bright green trainers.

For added support, he also donned a black compression sleeve on his left arm.

When not showing off, Bieber maintained his focus as he shot hoops and handled the the ball with ease.

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Brazil beats Chile in penalty kicks!

Brazil beats Chile in penalty kicks!

After 120 grueling minutes in Belo Horizonte, the fates of Brazil and Chile were decided in penalty kicks.

David Luiz gave Brazil an early lead with his first career international goal in the 18th minute, but the host country surrendered an equalizer after Hulk gave the ball away in dangerous territory. Alexis Sanchez’s strike kept Chile alive, but Brazil had a number of chances to snatch a winner. Hulk, who was seemingly at the center of everything (both good and bad) for Brazil, had what would have been a game-winning goal disallowed in the 55th minute. Referee Howard Webb ruled that Hulk  handled the ball with his arm, and the game remained scoreless.

Both teams grew tired in extra time, and by the 110th minute there were players lying all over the pitch, completely exhausted. Chilean substitute nearly stole the game in the 120th minute, but his shot hit the crossbar.

Brazilian goalkeeper Julio Cesar had tears in his eyes prior to the penalty kick shootout, and Brazil elected to shoot first.

David Luiz scored the first penalty with a long run-up, and Cesar saved Chile’s first penalty from Pinilla.

In the next round, Willian made the keeper dive the wrong way but dragged his penalty wide left. Cesar saved another from Alexis Sanchez.

Marcelo converted to make it 2-1 Brazil, but Charles Aránguiz blasted his penalty in the roof of the net to keep Chile alive.

Claudio Bravo saved Hulk’s low shot, and Marcelo Díaz scored to draw Chile level.

Neymar, Brazil’s fifth penalty taker, stutter-stepped his way to the ball and scored with a low drive to the left side. With Chile’s World Cup life on the line, Gonzalo Jara hit the right post, sending Brazil through to the quarterfinals.

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Underwater robot event ends at marine sanctuary

Underwater robot event ends at marine sanctuary

Associated Press

ALPENA, Mich. — About 60 teams from 18 states and 13 countries have put underwater robots through their paces at the only federal freshwater marine sanctuary in the United States.

Officials say the 13th Marine Advanced Technology Education Remotely Operated Vehicle International Competition ended Saturday at Michigan's Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The teams now await word from the judges.

Teams worked with robots in a large tank while judges evaluated their performance along with engineering and communication.

Archaeologist Stephanie Gandulla says the competition was based on research in the northeastern Lower Peninsula sanctuary. Tasks included identifying a shipwreck, collecting microbial samples from a sinkhole, inventorying  invasive species and removing trash.

The Alpena facility is among 14 national marine sanctuaries operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Online:
http://thunderbay.noaa.gov/

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MIT's Local Warming system warms you while you wander

MIT's Local Warming system warms you while you wander

Chris Velazco

Engadget 

Thought experiment time, folks: what would do you if you wanted to warm up a few people in a big, chilly room? Prevailing logic says to crank up the heat, but let's be honest here: sometimes the prevailing logic is useless. The folks from MIT's Senseable City Lab project have cooked up a more efficient (if slightly kookier) way to go called Local Warming. Their approach? To create a prototype LED spotlight that shoots a beam of heat at you as you walk around the room.

In case you were curious, yes, it's all much safer than it sounds.

The star of the show is a unwieldy infrared LED bulb mounted on a ceiling that's flanked by mirrors meant to help focus all that heat in one direction. It's connected to a series of motion sensors that can detect people milling around, and once they've been spotted, the bulb swings around to shoot heat right at them. Think of it like one of those pesky video game drone guns, except way less murder-y. Lead researcher Carlo Ratti recently told Wired that future prototypes boil the whole shebang down into a more compact (and hopefully cheaper) form with the aid of smaller LED bulbs.

Now as neat as a human-tracking heat beam is, it makes no sense to stick one of these things in rooms where lots of people tend to mill around. But install a few of these things in a drafty room -- say, a big open lobby -- and you could be looking at some substantial savings on heating costs, not to mention one hell of a conversation piece. Alas, the Local Warming lamp is still firmly in the prototype phase, so it'll be a while before you use one to trick out your cavernous sitting room.

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ASUS might undercut the competition with low-priced Android Wear smartwatch

ASUS might undercut the competition with low-priced Android Wear smartwatch

Timi Cantisano

Neowin

With Samsung, LG, and Motorola entering the wearables category with Android Wear, it was no surprise that ASUS would try to add itself to the mix by introducing a smartwatch of its own. Although the former three devices have been unveiled at this weeks Google I/O, the ASUS smartwatch is still a complete mystery. While there isn't any hard evidence, a source is stating that ASUS will release a Android Wear device by the end of the year.

According to TechCrunch, ASUS will be aiming to release their Android Wear smart watch in September. Although there weren't many details, the source claims that ASUS is intending to undercut its competitors by a large sum. ASUS could unveil its smart watch somewhere in the neighborhood of $99 to $150 USD. This would be a significant difference, considering that the Samsung Gear Live will sell for $199.99 and the LG G Watch for $229.99.

While LG and Samsung might have the jump on the competition for now, Motorola, ASUS and others could potentially be rewarded for their delayed releases later this year. Although it's unclear what type of device ASUS will unveil, Motorola has a fairly unique Android Wear device that features a round display with rumored wireless charging.
The ASUS smart watch is expected to release in the later part of the year with a rumored price point of $99 to $150 USD.

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Facebook experimented on random users to study newsfeed emotions

Facebook experimented on random users to study newsfeed emotions

Robert Sorokanich

Gizmodo

Spend the afternoon with a Debbie Downer, and you'll likely end up feeling blue too. Turns out, the same is true digitally: Facebook just published data saying this "emotional contagion" works just as strongly through your News Feed—which they discovered after tinkering with the emotional content of nearly 700,000 random users' feeds.

Yes, as the research paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science describes, Facebook's researchers wanted to figure out whether the transfer of emotions that we've all experienced face-to-face can also occur digitally. So the team of three created an algorithm that analyzed the words in News Feed posts to categorize them as emotionally positive or negative.

They then used this information to tinker with a whole mess of people's News Feeds. The team took 689,003 users' feeds and tweaked the emotional content for a week. Some users received feeds with some of the more negative status updates hidden; others got feeds tuned toward doom and gloom.
Turns out, there was a direct effect: despite no actual human interaction occurring, the subjects who saw artificially chipper news feeds posted happier status updates; the opposite was true for folks given a sourpuss feed.

The findings are, perhaps, kind of interesting: for the first time, we have statistical proof that social media affects our emotions in a way that's very similar to IRL human interaction. As the authors put it, "in contrast to prevailing assumptions, in-person interaction and nonverbal cues are not strictly necessary for emotional contagion, and . . . the observation of others' positive experiences constitutes a positive experience for people."

But there's something a bit creepy about Facebook using nearly three quarters of a million regular users as psychological test subjects, without their ever knowing it. To be fair, the emotional content rating and newsfeed manipulation was done by machine, rather than some lab-coated scientist combing through all your friends' status updates. But the notion that Facebook can actually manipulate your emotions via the news feed items you see just feels a bit bleak.

Of course, it's all covered under Facebook's privacy policy, the one you thoroughly studied and deeply considered blindly agreed to when you signed up for the social media service. Facebook didn't need to ask you for consent—they already had it.

So don't be surprised if you start feeling happy, sad, or angry in response to a friend's happy, sad, or angry status update. Turns out, it's just the way we're wired. Although there's a good chance your friends' humblebragging updates probably aren't 100 percent truthful. [PNAS; New Scientist via A.V. Club]

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World's thinnest smartphone gets a Snapdragon processor and LTE

World's thinnest smartphone gets a Snapdragon processor and LTE

by Steven Johns
Neowin

A while back we covered the GioneeElife S5.5 and how it shattered records, being that the device was only 5.55mm at its thickest point. Back then, the Elife S5.5 had a Mediatek MTK6592 chipset which only supported a limited amount of bands, limiting it to 3G, and wasn't able to support alternative ROMs like Cyanogenmod. Things have since changed, however, as the folk at Gionee have switched up the specs of the device and gave a welcomed boost to the display, battery and chipset.
The phone retains its 2GB RAM, 13 megapixel Sony front camera and 5 megapixel ultra-wideangle rear camera, however the phone is now sporting a much more interesting (albeit outdated) Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 chipset, meaning it should be fully compatible with all phone networks in Australasia, Europe and North America. The new chipset also provides LTE support, which is always a welcomed addition above 3G and older technologies.

Powering the new 1080p Samsung display is a new battery, which now has a larger 2450mAh capacity. Unfortunately the bump up in battery capacity has cost the device extra 0.2mm in width, and the latest iteration now measures in at 5.75mm.
Repackaged as the Gionee Elife S5.5L, the new model is expected to be available for sale in July and maintain the same ~$330 USD price tag as the previous model.

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