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Targeting senior citizen in Japan, Panasonic new portable Speaker, the SC-MC10, is a nice little Bluetooth Wireless speaker than can be fitted to any TV or Hi-Fi and give anyone close to it and within a 10m radius from the emitter the possibility to get a clear and crystal sound without having to blast their neighbors hears with their insanely high TV sound volume!
View full post on Akihabara News
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This is the PAL-V (Personal Air and Land Vehicle) ONE, a “car”/gyrocopter hybrid from The Netherlands that’s aimed at revolutionizing personal transport, but will probably only lead to a dramatic increase in gyrocopter related deaths. According to the company, the car can be driven on any road with a standard driver’s license, and requires only a recreational or private pilot’s license (“only 20 – 30 hours of training”) to fly. I…find that terrifying. “You find everything terrifying.” I nailed my apartment door shut and I’m never leaving.
The flying range will be between 350 (220 miles) and 500 km (315 miles), depending on the type, pay load and wind conditions. Driving, a PAL-V will have a range of about 1200 km (750 miles). It runs on gasoline like a conventional car and there will also be versions that use biodiesel or bio-ethanol. It can reach speeds of up to 180 km/h (110 miles/h) both on land and in the air.
On the ground the slim, aerodynamic, 3-wheeled vehicle combines the comfort of a car with the agility of a motorcycle thanks to its patented, cutting-edge, ’tilting’ system. Driving, a PAL-V accelerates like a sports car and drives through curves like a motorcycle.
Flying, a PAL-V is like a standard gyrocopter. It is quieter than helicopters due to the slower rotation of the main rotor. It takes off and lands with low speed, cannot stall, and is very easy to control. This makes a PAL-V one of the safest types of aircraft.
Thanks to its very short take off and landing capability, it is possible to land a PAL-V practically anywhere. For take-off, a strip of 165 meters (540 feet) is enough and it can be either paved or grass.
Unfortunately, with all those safety features, there’s still nothing that prevents you from flying into power lines trying to barnstorm a friend’s house. And then what do you do? “Dangle above the street and get shocked to death?” Exaaaactly.
Hit the jump for several more shots of the lollercopter and a video of its maiden voyage. View full post on Geekologie – Gadgets, Gizmos, and Awesome
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Because humanity is determined to have an apocalypse this year one way or another, scientists have moved the nuclear doomsday clock forward a minute to 11:55. Quick — we should probably make out while there’s still time! “No way, you smell like booze.” Yeah but you’re uuuuugly.
“It is five minutes to midnight. Two years ago [when the clock was reversed to 6-minutes to midnight], it appeared that world leaders might address the truly global threats that we face. In many cases, that trend has not continued or been reversed. For that reason, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is moving the clock hand one minute closer to midnight, back to its time in 2007.”
So yeah, apparently world leaders aren’t addressing global threats and that’s why they moved it forward. Or — OR — was it because the drive-thru girl at Taco Bell got my order wrong and I threatened “to blow this shithole planet up like Alderaan”? I was honking my horn and yelling, people might’ve heard!
Doomsday Clock moves 1 minute closer to catastrophe [cnet]
Thanks to sam, Patrick88 and Karen, who don’t care when the world ends as long as they get 24 hours notice. Me? Four hours and a stomach full of boner pills. View full post on Geekologie – Gadgets, Gizmos, and Awesome
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Determined to keep good on their promise to clone mammoths in the near future, scientists claim they’re one step closer after finding well preserved marrow in the thighbone of a specimen during a recent dig. No word if anybody’s tried making mammoth broth with it yet.
By transplanting nuclei taken from the marrow cells into elephant egg cells whose nuclei have been removed through a cloning technique, embryos with a mammoth gene could be produced and planted into elephant wombs, as the two species are close relatives, they said.
But cell nuclei are usually damaged or have not been kept in a frozen state even when they have been found in a good overall condition, a Russian museum official said.
This time, however, there is a high likelihood that biologically active nuclei can be extracted as the frozen marrow found when museum scientists cut open the thighbone Nov. 13 was fresh and in excellent condition, according to the official.
Oh man, can you imagine the look on the husband elephant’s face when his wife gives birth to a mammoth? I bet you didn’t even think of that, did you, scientists? HOMEWRECKERS! That said, I’m ready and willing to carry a dino baby to full term. Call Text Sext me.
Scientists a step closer to cloning mammoth [japantimes]
Thanks to Bradley, Pesche and Sam, who agree mammoths are just hairy elephants AND A WASTE OF OUR CLONING RESOURCES. View full post on Geekologie – Gadgets, Gizmos, and Awesome
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Well, this isn’t the strategy I was expecting, but it seems the FCC’s request to investigate the AT&T/T-Mobile deal under the lens of an administrative law judge last week just doesnt sit well with AT&T. Rather than be scrutinized, the company has instead withdrawn its application for the merger. But don’t let that confuse you. Buying Deutsche Telekom AG’s T-Mobile is still big blue’s end goal — the FCC just happens to be blocking the road at the moment.
What may be more interesting is that AT&T’s confidence seems to be dwindling. According to an official release, the company agreed to pay a $4 billion pre-tax charge on its fourth quarter accountancy sheet, which is the exact amount it would owe to affected parties should the deal fall through. $3 billion in cash would go to Deutsche Telekom as a default payment, while another $1 billion would go to the book value of spectrum that big blue would be forced to relinquish.
In other words, AT&T is preparing for the worst in a very real way. Well, the worst for them, not necessarily the worst case scenario for everyone.
What I find most interesting is that AT&T decided to release this information on Thanksgiving. Maybe they assumed we media types would be stuffing our faces with stuffing (ha!). Either way, AT&T is still putting on a brave face, officially stating the following:
AT&T Inc. and Deutsche Telekom AG are continuing to pursue the sale of Deutsche Telekom’s U.S. wireless assets to AT&T and are taking this step to facilitate the consideration of all options at the FCC and to focus their continuing efforts on obtaining antitrust clearance for the transaction from the Department of Justice either through the litigation pending before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Case No. 1:11-cv-01560 (ESH) or alternate means. As soon as practical, AT&T Inc. and Deutsche Telekom AG intend to seek the necessary FCC approval.
The question now is, will a deal between AT&T and T-Mobile ever really be “practical”?
View full post on TechCrunch » Mobile