Nissan’s ‘Gran Turismo 6’ concept car crosses over into reality
Nissan has just revealed that its 2020 supercar design of the GT-R created for Gran Turismo 6 has now become an actual, full-sized 2+2 car. The virtual game car was introduced last week, and the actual glass-and-steel model drew admiring gapes when it was revealed at Goodwood, England today (see the video below). That’s no doubt because of the radical styling, which includes a four-wheel drive chassis, active suspension, ventilated hood and that carbon fiber front splitter. We’re not sure if the real McCoy is even driveable, but you’ll be able to get behind the wheel of the game car on Gran Turismo 6 sometime next month.
Filed under: Gaming, Transportation
Via: Engadget.jp
Facebook now lets UK users choose from over 70 gender options
Four months after it did so in the US, Facebook is now letting UK users choose new gender options. After working with two UK organisations, Press For Change and Gendered Intelligence, the social network added over 70 new terms, allowing you to select one of the new custom genders or add your own. Users can also choose a preferred pronoun: male (he/his), female (she/her) or neutral (they/their), which is reflected in birthday notifications and suchlike. As with all profile information, Facebook lets you hide anything you’re not comfortable with sharing and says it will not disclose gender selections to advertisers. To update your profile, click the ‘About’ tab, then hit “Edit” next to the “Gender” option in the “Contact and Basic Information” section.
[Image credit: Facebook]
Filed under: Internet, Facebook
Source: The Independent
Google will pay for coding lessons for thousands of female tech workers
We know the stats by now, and they’re grim: women hold just a quarter of IT jobs, and they make up a mere 18 percent of recent computer science graduates. At this year’s I/O, Google has announced a new program that, it hopes, will do something to correct this imbalance. It’s going to pay for “thousands” of female tech workers to discover basic coding through self-learning courses, presumably in the hope that this will advance their careers and turn them into better mentors and role models for youngsters.
A cynical view might be that Google is simply throwing cash at the problem, because this isn’t really a long-term solution: The company is actually just handing out voucher codes so that women can enrol for three months of free online classes at the Code School. However, Google is also running deeper projects to tackle female underrepresentation in education and employment as part of its Made w/ Code program. And besides, it probably deserves credit for taking the unusual step of highlighting just how bad its own diversity problem is, rather than hiding behind the tech industry as a whole.
Google is offering the Code School vouchers directly to female I/O attendees and others “inside the tech community,” but if you’re interested and don’t want to be overlooked, then you can put yourself forward here.
Filed under: Misc, Internet, Google
Via: CNET
Source: Code School, Google Women TechMakers
Sony to stream two World Cup matches in 4K at a London cinema
Sporting events are often used as a testbed for new broadcast technologies, and this year’s World Cup is no different. The BBC is already piloting 4K transmissions (albeit internally) from Brazil, but Sony has dreams of hitting the big screen. The official World Cup sponsor announced today that it’s teaming up with Vue Cinemas to deliver a quarter final match and the final in Ultra High Definition (UHD) live via satellite to Westfield’s Vue Multiplex, which’ll host events on the 4th and 13th of July. Sony says tickets will be limited, by which it probably means the audience will be full of corporate types, but intends to offer a few to some “lucky fans.” We’ve contacted a representative and will share exactly what we know in due course.
Update: Sony has responded, confirming that the quarter final match is for guests only. However, the Final will be opened to the general public, with tickets available via Vue directly.
[Image credit: Daniel Incandela, Flickr]
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Sony Europe
Android 4.4.4 for the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact makes a surprising Appearance
If you had to guess which device after the Nexus, Motorola and Google Play edition devices would be getting the Android 4.4.4 update next, I’m willing to bet that the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact wouldn’t be the first thing you blurt out. As fate would have it, however, Android 4.4.4 for the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact has indeed been […]
ReWalk’s rehab exoskeleton now approved for home use
The ReWalk exoskeleton has been helping paraplegics walk in US rehab centers for years, but now that it got certified by the FDA, almost anyone who can afford it can finally get one. Unlike the one-size-fits-all version for rehab facilities, the personal system that got the agency’s approval is customized for each user and is designed for use in various indoor and outdoor environments. Still, the two share the same design: they both have metal braces that support the body, motors that provide movement and a backpack that supplies energy. They also have a wrist remote control, where users can issue the sit, stand or walk commands. So, what did ReWalk have to go through in order to get the agency’s sweet A-OK, anyway?
Well, the exoskeleton was subjected to a clinical trial involving 30 participants, which tested its ability to walk on various surfaces and determined the time it’ll take a user to traverse certain distances. These tests helped the FDA figure out who can buy and use a ReWalk, because it won’t be easy maneuvering a seven-pound exoskeleton. Apparently, you can’t get the machine unless you can already stand with assistance and use crutches. Also, you can’t have other neurological injuries (other than the ones on your spinal cord), unhealed fractures, infection, circulatory conditions and heart and lung diseases, among others. ReWalk hasn’t revealed its pricing for the US yet, but in Europe, one unit costs a whopping €52,500 ($72,000).
[Image credit: Getty Images]
Filed under: Misc
Commercial Project Tango tablet could come from Google and LG
The Project Tango tablet has been showcased by Google at various times as a prototype and has shown itself to be an exciting exercise in what Android can do outside of just being used as an idle device. The ability to make 3D maps and take advantage of augmented reality makes it a very interesting prospect for […]
Download the Android L wallpapers here
Android L is currently the talk of the Android community, with preview builds of it already circulating the internet, letting people get a taste of what will inevitably become Android 5.0 when it is officially released later this year. Many of the apps in Android L look to have been given a facelift, as has […]
A 1,000-foot high wall might be the key to saving the midwest from tornados
A towering, 50-meter thick wall may sound like the fevered dream of isolationists bent on border control, but it just might be the solution to the midwest’s tornado problems. University of Drextel physicist Rongjia Tao reckons that a trio of 1,000-foot high, 165-foot “great walls” could mitigate the worst natural weather of Tornado Alley — a loosely defined area that spans several states with high tornado risk. Tao compared Tornado Alley to a geographically similar area in China and concluded that the midwest suffered from more tornados primarily because it doesn’t have east-west mountain ranges to weaken or block the weather patterns that form them. Now he’s proposing that we build some.
Tao envisions three enormous walls to protect the midwest: one in North Dakota, a second in a middle area like Oklahoma and a third near Texas or Louisiana. Smaller sections of these barriers could be built in high-risk areas to start, he says, and then gradually extended. As much as Tao believes in his proposed solution, he’s at least being realistic about it: he doesn’t expect the project to start anytime in the near future. Even so, it could be comparatively affordable — one mile of the tornado wall is estimated to cost about $160 million, but it has the potential to stop tornados that cause damages that rack up into billions. Check out Tao’s findings in the International Journal of Modern Physics at the source link below.
[Image credit: Gettystock]
Filed under: Misc
Via: VICE
Source: World Scientific (1), (2)
Research breakthrough could make hydrogen gas an even better green fuel
Toyota might be bringing a commercial hydrogen fuel cell car to roads in 2015, but the fuel still has a few drawbacks — the major ones being storing and transporting the gas itself. Research from the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) reckons they can solve it using ammonia, which is more secure and less volatile, as the hydrogen delivery method. “Cracking” ammonia offers up one part nitrogen and three parts hydrogen and while the catalysts that do this are typically pricey precious metals, this new research uses two chemical processes at the same time, offering the same results at a much lower cost. According to the research team leader, Professor Bill David: “Our approach is as effective as the best current catalysts but the active material, sodium amide, costs pennies to produce. We can produce hydrogen from ammonia ‘on demand’ effectively and affordably.”
Storage-wise, Ammonia can be housed at low pressure in plastic tanks, while any hypotheical tanks would use the same structure as LPG. “We’ve even thought about how we can make ammonia as safe as possible and stop the release of NOx gases,” (the byproduct of cracking) added Professor David. “While our process is not yet optimized, we estimate that an ammonia decomposition reactor no bigger than a two-liter bottle will provide enough hydrogen to run a mid-range family car.”
Filed under: Transportation, Science, Alt
Source: Physorg
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