tech – Page 3 – TwistedSifter

Solar-Powered, Glow in the Dark Bike Lanes are Being Tested in Poland

This could be cool for any pathway

Solar-powered, glow in the dark bike lanes are currently being tested near Lidzbark Warminski in the north of Poland. When fully charged, the synthetic material can provide up to 10 hours of light according to the material’s creators, TPA Instytut Badań Technicznych Sp. z o.o.

The project, while similar in concept to Studio Roosegaarde’s Starry Night Bike Lane, differs in the technology used, as Studio Roosegaarde’s was LED-powered and temporary.

The project is still in the testing phase and it will be interesting to see if the material proves viable for bike paths and other public uses.

[via Bored Panda]

Photograph by TPA Instytut Badań Technicznych Sp. z o.o

Interactive Map for Airport WiFi Passwords Around the World

A handy and routinely updated list of wireless passwords for airports and lounges around the world

Travel blogger and computer security engineer Anil Polat created an interactive Google Map of WiFi passwords for airports and airport lounges around the world.

Embedded below, the regularly updated map is expandable and zoomable. By clicking on the little airplane icon you can see the corresponding airport/lounge’s WiFi login/password.

For those interested in an offline version, the map is available for purchase on iOS and Android.

If you or someone you know is a frequent flyer, share this handy map with them!

[Fox Nomad via Mashable]

Picture of the Day: NASA Earth Marbles

Since 1972, NASA’s iconic “Blue Marbles” have inspired and captured our collective imaginations

Photograph by NASA

Since 1972, NASA’s iconic “Blue Marbles” have inspired and captured our collective imaginations. In the amazing poster above we see some of the best ‘marbles’ that have been captured and shared since.

Top row left to right: Blue Marble – Astronaut photograph 1972, Blue Marble 2002, Aqua Marble 2005
Bottom row left to right: Blue Marble 2012, White Marble 2012, Black Marble 2012

For a visual history of the Blue Marble and access to the higher resolution images for each individual photo seen above, visit NASA Goddard Space Flight Center on Flickr.

via NASA Goddard Space Flight Center on Flickr

This Plane Just Circumnavigated the Globe Without a Single Drop of Fuel

500+ hours of flight, 43,041 km travelled and 19 world records; the Solar Impulse 2 (Si2) has completed a historic mission

After 23 days of flight and over 43,041 km travelled, the Solar Impulse 2 (Si2) has completed a historic mission, completing the world’s first, around-the-globe solar flight without using a single drop of fuel.

Piloted by Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, Solar Impulse 2 first embarked on the 17 leg journey from Abu Dhabi on March 9, 2015. The duo just recently completed their mission because the pilots faced a nine-month delay last year after the plane’s batteries were damaged during a flight from Japan to Hawaii. It was also delayed for more than a week in Cairo ahead of its final flight to Abu Dhabi due to poor weather conditions and Piccard falling ill.

Si2 is a single-seater aircraft made of carbon fiber that has a 72m / 236ft wingspan (larger than a Boeing 747) for a weight of 2300kg / 5100lb (the equivalent of an empty family car). The 17,248 solar cells built into the wing power the four batteries (38.5kWh per battery) that in turn power the four electric engines (13.5kW / 17.5hp each) and the propellers with renewable energy. The plane is therefore capable of saving a maximum amount of energy during the day and flying throughout the night on batteries. Si2 requires zero fuel and has virtually unlimited autonomy: theoretically, Si2 could fly forever and is only limited by the pilot’s sustainability.

A total of 19 world records were set or are still pending by the World Air Sports Federation (FAI), in particular when André Borschberg accomplished the pioneering first of flying five consecutive days and nights over the Pacific Ocean from Japan to Hawaii in the longest duration a solo airplane of any kind has ever flown and when Bertrand Piccard achieved the historic first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a solar airplane. It took Piccard 70 hours.

Solar Impluse 2 completed more than 500 flight hours, cruising at an average speed between 28 mph (45 kmh) and 56 mph (90 kmh). It made stops in Oman, India, Myanmar, China, Japan, the U.S., Spain, Italy, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Its North American stops included California, Arizona, Oklahoma, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. [source]

The pilots would rest a maximum of 20 minutes at a time, repeating the naps 12 times over each 24-hour stretch. Neither pilot was able to stand in the cockpit while flying, but the seat reclined for stretching and its cushion could be removed for access to a toilet. Goggles worn over the pilot’s eyes flashed lights to wake him up while armbands placed underneath their suits buzzed when the plane was not at flying level. [source]

Piccard, a psychiatrist, is the son of undersea explorer Jacques Piccard and a grandson of balloonist Auguste Piccard. In 1999, he became the first person to circumnavigate the globe non-stop in a hot air balloon. Borschberg, an engineer and graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is also an entrepreneur. He launched the Solar Impulse project in 2003 with Piccard. [source]

For More Information Visit SolarImpulse.com

The Windows on this Train Automatically Fog When Passing Nearby Apartments

A cool privacy feature on the new monorail train in Dageu, South Korea

Photograph by is4ac on reddit

Here’s a cool privacy feature on the new monorail train in Daegu, South Korea; windows that automatically fog when passing apartments that are close to the train. The technology is known as Smart glass and the glazing occurs when the window’s light transmission properties are altered through the application of voltage, light or heat to the surface.

The technology also appears on select trains in Singapore and has applications in office spaces, meeting rooms and other areas that may not require privacy at all times. You can see the ‘privacy’ glass enabled below along with a couple embedded videos demonstrating the technology.

[via is4ac on reddit]

Photograph by is4ac on reddit

This Shapeshifting CGI Vehicle Can Morph Into Any Car in the World

The Blackbird is a fully-adjustable, mobile camera rig designed to morph into any car in the world

The Blackbird is a mobile camera rig designed to morph into any car in the world. At the push of a button the fully adjustable chassis can modify its length by 4 feet and width by 10 inches. It can fit any wheel set and be altered for any type of suspension and chassis design.

Two years in development, the Blackbird was hand built by the world’s top technicians from JemFX in the same hangar that the BLACKBIRD SR-71 supersonic jet was once manufactured. The car rig’s name is a nod to this legacy of stealth design.

To understand the capabilities of this vehicle check out the embedded video below.

The Blackbird is able to capture quality footage and data due to its camera array and tailor-made stabilisation unit, engineered in collaboration with Performance Filmworks’ award winning technician, Lev Yevstratov. A combination of high dynamic range imagery and 3D laser scanning generates a virtual version of the environment, producing 100% realistic CG renderings.

The Blackbird recently took home top honours at the Cannes Lions Festival, and was awarded the Gold Lion for Innovation.

For more information visit the Blackbird’s official website.

If Augmented Reality Went Too Far

This looks like a nightmare

Hyper-Reality is a conceptual short film by Keiichi Matsuda. It presents a provocative and kaleidoscopic new vision of the future, where physical and virtual realities have merged, and the city is saturated in media.

It is the latest work in an ongoing research-by-design project by Keiichi Matsuda (previous works include Domestic Robocop, Augmented City 3D and Keiichi’s Masters thesis Domesti/city.

Below you can find the short film embedded along with some stills and gifs from the project. For more projects by Matsuda, visit http://KM.CX.

Hyper-Reality by Keiichi Matsuda

Our physical and virtual realities are becoming increasingly intertwined. Technologies such as VR, augmented reality, wearables, and the internet of things are pointing to a world where technology will envelop every aspect of our lives. It will be the glue between every interaction and experience, offering amazing possibilities, while also controlling the way we understand the world. Hyper-Reality attempts to explore this exciting but dangerous trajectory. It was crowdfunded, and shot on location in Medellín, Colombia. [source]

Keiichi works as an independent design consultant, and runs a multidisciplinary design studio at the intersection of technology, media and architecture. The studio works on built installations, concept design, interaction and more, exploring how emerging technology will impact our future lives.

CREDITS
by Keiichi Matsuda
produced in Medellín by Fractal

Executive Producers: Wu Yu Zhou, Carlson Bull
Associate Producers: Ali Al-Assam, Eiichi Kono

CAST
Juliana – Natalia Tamayo
Juliana’s voice – Catalina Villegas
Inspiration Guru – Wu Yu Zhou
Customer Support –
Camilo Suárez
Juliana Ospina Henao
blogger – Juliana Vélez
Thief – Juanita Agudelo Arbeláez
Biker – Jose Kerguelen

CREW
camera – Vivi Trujillo
additional writing – Hernán Ortiz
makeup – Juliana Bravo
production assistant – Daniel Jurado, Katie Baggs
sound + music – Skillbard
additional effects – Raymond Hugh Bray, Aleks Cicha
special thanks: Adriana Arbeláez, Cootrasana, Bully, Knowledgeview

This Best Buy Flyer from 1994 Shows How Fast Technology Has Changed

Kids these days don’t know about that 14.4 modem life

For as long as I can remember, consumer electronics retailer Best Buy has published their weekly flyer. There was always something on sale and if they managed to get you in-store, the flyer had done its job.

Earlier this week, redditor /u/sheahofosho scanned an old Best Buy flyer from the week of October 23, 1994 and it really shows how fast technology has changed in 20 short years. You’ll find walkmans, VCRs, CDs, and camcorders; but what gets me are the specs and prices on the PCs! The flyer is a perfect time capsule and serves as a great reminder for how quickly technology is advancing.

[via sheaofosho]

4 MB of RAM, 720 MB hard drive and 14″ Super VGA! Only $9.86 for a cassette player!

Shaq Fu for Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis? Sold.

If you’re cassette Deck doesn’t have auto-reverse, I feel sorry for you.

I wonder how much that 46″ television weighs?

Your camcorder better have a color viewfinder!

Kids these days have no idea how fast a 14.4 fax/modem was.

Remember Encarta?

Appliance prices seem comparable-ish to today.

When Sony was king.

Picture of the Day: The Room Where Satellites Get Tested

Seen here is the European Space Agency’s (ESA) incredible satellite testing room in Noordwijk, the Netherlands

Photograph by European Space Agency (ESA)

Seen here is the ESA’s incredible satellite testing room in Noordwijk, the Netherlands; officially known as the Compact Payload Test Range in the ESA’s ESTEC technical centre area. In an informative blog post, the ESA adds:

In this zone of silence, satellite antennas are tested ahead of launch. Metal walls form a ‘Faraday cage’ to block all external signals, isolating the facility from TV and radio broadcasts, aircraft and ship radars, and even mobile calls. Spiky foam cladding absorbs radio signals internally to create conditions simulating the infinite void of space.

The white surfaces in front of the ‘anechoic’ blue background are reflectors that pass signals from an illuminating antenna to the antenna under test… To increase its capabilities, the Compact Payload Test Range (CPTR) was recently equipped with a state-of-the-art Near-Field Scanner (NFS) to measure the electromagnetic fields closely surrounding a test antenna. Via mathematics, the equivalent radiation at large distances is calculated.

This new set-up and test technique allow the measurement of larger antennas (up to 8 m in diameter) over a larger frequency range (0.4–50 GHz). [source]

via European Space Agency (ESA)

Picture of the Day: Saturn’s Little Water World

The water-world Enceladus appears here to sit atop Saturn’s rings like a drop of dew upon a leaf

Photograph by NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

In this amazing capture, the water-world Enceladus appears to sit atop Saturn’s rings like a drop of dew upon a leaf. Even though it appears like a tiny drop before the might of the giant Saturn, Enceladus reminds us that even small worlds hold mysteries and wonders to be explored. (source)

By most predictions prior to Cassini’s arrival at Saturn, a moon the size of Enceladus (313 miles, 504 kilometers across) would have been expected to be a dead, frozen world. But Enceladus displays remarkable geologic activity, as evidenced by the plume emanating from its southern polar regions and its global, subsurface ocean. (source)

This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the rings from about 0.3 degrees below the ring plane. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on May 25, 2015 using a spectral filter which preferentially admits wavelengths of near-infrared light centered at 728 nanometers. (source)

The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 930,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Saturn. Image scale is 54 miles (87 kilometers) per pixel. (source)

The Cassini mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (the European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado. (source)

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and http://www.nasa.gov/cassini. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org.

Summary written by Tony Greicius

via NASA