This is why phones tend to land screen down when we drop them
Buttered toast tends to land butter-side down when you drop it. This piece of wisdom is not just another one of Murphy’s adages. It’s a fact, proven mathematically by Robert Matthews, a physicist and professor at UK’s Aston University.
Now Professor Matthews applied his prodigious physics knowledge to solve another age-old mystery (or, at least, decade-old): why smartphones tend to land screen down when we drop them.
Starting from some basics measurements and some observations about the design of smartphones (many of them are slippery, all of them are primarily held loosely in one hand), Professor Matthews came up with this little formula that approximates the rate at which your phone pivots around your buttery fingers:
Looks like Greek to you? No worries, you’re not alone. The gist of it is that yes, smartphones do typically land face down when they slip from our hands, putting those fragile displays in mortal danger. Damn you, physics!
Now, guess which major OEM sent out a press release highlighting this groundbreaking (or just screen-breaking) discovery? If you said Motorola, you’re right on the money, though it’s not a hard guess, considering that Moto has been making a huge deal out of the “shatterproof” screen of the Moto X Force and its American cousin, the Droid Turbo 2.
Some Project Fi subscribers might be getting a Lego kit from Google
Google will be giving out this cool Lego kit to some Project Fi subscribers. We don’t currently know if every Project Fi subscriber will get one, or just a lucky few. However, if you are lucky enough to receive the kit, once it is built it becomes a charging station for your Nexus.
Some people have been posting pictures on Google+ showing them off. The picture above shows a completed Lego kit, while the one below is actually charging a phone. Both pictures are courtesy of Jason Lukaszewski (Google+).
Naturally, the Lego kits are the Project Fi color scheme. Other than the Lego bricks, it comes with instructions and a note that reads, “Thanks for your support. Let’s build on this.”
Via: The Verge
Come comment on this article: Some Project Fi subscribers might be getting a Lego kit from Google
Stretchable square of rubber doubles as a keyboard
There’s a whole branch of science that’s dedicated to turning flexible surfaces into sensors that can be used as an artificial substitute for skin. These materials could then be used to give robots a sense of touch, or even to restore feeling for people with artificial prostheses. Researchers at the University of Auckland have taken the concept in a slightly different direction after building a square of soft, stretchable rubber that pulls double-duty as a keyboard. It’s hoped that the technology can be used to create foldable, rollable input devices, which reminds us of Nokia’s twisty-stretchy phone concept from way back when.
Via: EurekaAlert
Source: Smart Materials
Scientists use ‘spooky action’ to mail electron messages a mile
Researchers at Stanford University announced Tuesday that they had successfully leveraged the “spooky” interaction of entangled electrons to send a message between them over a span of 1.2 miles. This is by far the longest distance that scientists have managed to send entangled particles and provides the strongest evidence to date that quantum computing can have practical applications.
Quantum computers exploit the phenomenon known as quantum entanglement, what Einstein famously referred to as “spooky action over distance“, wherein two particles are connected regardless of the distance between them. That is, as in this case, if two electrons are entangled, the direction of their spin will always be the same. If one electron is spinning clockwise, the other will be too. If one reverses the direction of its spin, the other will as well. Doesn’t matter if they’re on the opposite sides of a molecule or on opposite sides of the galaxy, the two particles and their behaviors are inextricably linked.
“Electron spin is the basic unit of a quantum computer,” Stanford physicist Leo Yu said in a statement. “This work can pave the way for future quantum networks that can send highly secure data around the world.” The problem is that electrons are confined to atoms. And in order to get two electrons to entangle over long distances (and allow their quantum computer networks to communicate with one another) they need photons to act as the messengers.
This is accomplished by “pairing” the photon and electron, a process called “quantum correlation”. But that runs into another issue: photons love to change the direction of their spin while travelling through fiber optic lines. So while you can get the first electron and the photon to correlate pretty easily, keeping the photon on task as it travels to the second electron is way more difficult. To overcome this, the Stanford team created “time-stamps” for the photons that act as reference points for the photons, allowing them to confirm that they arrived with the same spin orientation that they left with.
Using this method, the team successfully entangled a pair of electrons over 2 kilometers of fiber optic line. Their research has been published in the journal Nature Communications.
[Image Credit: L.A. Cicero]
Via: Stanford University
Source: Nature Communications
Get the Moga Pro wireless game controller for just $10 from Verizon
Touch controls get the job done, but let’s face it, Android gaming is just better with a proper controller. If, for whatever reason, you haven’t got yourself a Bluetooth controller yet, Verizon has a pretty sweet deal on the Moga Pro.
See also: Black Friday 2015 – best deals
Verizon is selling the Moga Pro Wireless Controller for just $10, which is 87% lower than its list price, $22 cheaper than the previous best deal we’ve reported on, and $15 cheaper than on Amazon.
In our review of the Moga Pro, we loved the device’s solid and precise build, the fact that it has a ton of controls (two clickable analog sticks, a D-pad, four action buttons, two triggers, and two shoulder buttons), and that it’s comfortable, even after a couple hours of gaming. The device connects through Bluetooth to a range of Android games, including some that have built-in support for the Moga Pro and some that connect through the Bluetooth HID protocol.
The Moga Pro features a 3.7-inch extendable holding arm that lets you mount most smartphones. It also comes with a stand, that you can use to put up a tablet or even a large smartphone on your desk for an even better experience.
One other cool feature of the Moga Pro is its ability to charge your device from its 2,200 mAh battery through a USB cable.
The Moga Pro Wireless Controller is well reviewed on Amazon, where it has a 4.3 score across more than 200 reviews.
Limited quantities are available, so don’t hesitate too much. Happy shopping!
[Deal] Nest Thermostat + Nest Protect bundle, Nest Cam get big discounts
Through Monday, Nest is offering its three core products at quite attractive prices.
- Nest Thermostat + Nest Protect for $349 ($50 off)
- Nest Cam for $169 ($30 off); $100/$300 per year for 10/30-day video history
Home automation is on the rise and Nest designs some of the best hardware and software around. So this deal is even more amazing considering you’re getting huge savings on premium devices. In all, you could get three Nest products that work together for less than $600.
Come comment on this article: [Deal] Nest Thermostat + Nest Protect bundle, Nest Cam get big discounts
6 hypermiling cars that get over 100 miles per gallon
By Cat DiStasio
Fuel efficiency is one rating that can really set a car apart from the pack. Although you can’t yet walk into just any dealership and drive away in a vehicle that gets more than 100 miles a gallon, there are some sweet rides out there that demonstrate just how incredibly efficient a car can be. To get a better idea of what the uber-efficient car of tomorrow looks like, we’ve compiled some of the most efficient vehicles on the planet, all of which exceed that 100-mpg marker. In fact, most of the cars featured here leave that rating in the dust, and several break into the quadruple digits.Slideshow-342967
Tarantino explains why he thinks 70mm is better than digital
Famed film director Quentin Tarantino is well-known for his purist cinematic tastes and revelry of antique movie production techniques. His fondness for old-school cinema is on full display in his upcoming release, The Hateful Eight, which is being captured only in 70mm and shown as glamorous “roadshows“. While the rest of the industry films almost exclusively in digital these days (not to mention that movie houses have long since mothballed their 70mm projectors) Tarantino has been dead set to make this movie on film. In the Fandango featurette below, he explains his reasoning for this insistence and why it’s good for the fans.
Source: Movieclips Coming Soon (YouTube)
If you bought a OnePlus Type-C cable for use on a third-party device you’re entitled to a refund
If you cast your mind back a week, you may recall that Google employee Benson Leung published a post over on his official G+ page disclosing that the OnePlus’ official Type-C cable is not safe for use with Android-powered smartphones and tablets as it doesn’t comply to the operating system’s USB compatibility specifications.
OnePlus has now issued a statement revealing that the cable is only safe for use with the OnePlus 2 and may cause damage to third-party devices. As a result, the Chinese company is offering all customers who purchased a wire independently for use on a non-OnePlus handset a full refund.
See the full statement below:
Recently it has come to our attention that two of our products, the OnePlus Type-C cable and the OnePlus USB Type-C adapter, are using a resistor that may not be fully compatible with some third-party devices.
Please rest assured that this cable and adapter are safe to use with the OnePlus 2. That means that if you’re charging or transferring data to or from the OnePlus 2, you should have no problems using the cable that shipped with your OnePlus 2 or the cables or adapters you bought separately on OnePlus.net.
We’ve gotten a lot of really good feedback on these products, and many of you have bought them to use with your other USB Type-C devices. That may be fine, but depending on the devices and power sources you’re using them with we can’t guarantee full compatibility with those products.
Our cable and adapter use a 10kΩ resistor, but according to version 1.1 of the Type-C port standard, these products should be using a 56kΩ resistor. The issue is that the cable and adapter are designed for a maximum of 2 amps of power, but the resistor will allow fast-charging devices to try to draw more power than a power source may allow. This could result in damage to the power source (third-party charger, USB port, etc.) if the device and power source do not have an internal mechanism to self-regulate the amount of power flowing to or from them. Typically, if a charger has a CE, UL or CCC logo on it, it has been certified and is safe to use.
Source: OnePlus
Come comment on this article: If you bought a OnePlus Type-C cable for use on a third-party device you’re entitled to a refund
Raspberry Pi Zero is a tiny computer that costs just $5
Pi Zero is the latest product from this British company, and despite its diminutive size, it can do quite a bit of heavy lifting. The $5 computer is actually faster than the original Raspberry Pi, which cost $25. Apart from being the most inexpensive computer out there, the Pi Zero is also the company’s most compact computer ever, at exactly half the size of the Model A+. For those who seek its exact dimensions, the Pi Zero measures 65mm x 30mm, i.e. smaller than the credit card in your wallet.
See also: Showdown: Raspberry Pi 2 vs ODROID C1 vs HummingBoard vs MIPS Creator CI20 (updated)
Thought a $5 computer wouldn’t get you much? Think again. Despite its price being a fifth of the original model, Pi Zero comes with 512MB of RAM, a Broadcom BCM2835 chipset that houses a 1GHz ARM11 core (40% faster than the original Pi), microSD card slot for expandable storage, and a mini HDMI port that supports 1080p resolution at 60 frames per second.
Here’s a video by RaspberryPiGuy. Watch it to get a brief overview of the Pi Zero:
To promote the launch of the Pi Zero, Raspberry is giving away free units of their $5 computer with every issue of MagPi, the company’s monthly magazine. The magazine costs £5.99 in the UK, whereas the Pi Zero costs £3.99. It’s a unique way of promoting a computer, and it is also the first time that a computer is being given away for free with the purchase of a magazine.
See also: Raspberry Pi 2 review
Planning to take on a new DIY computing project and only have $5 to spare? Don’t worry, Raspberry Pi Zero has you covered. The board is already on sale across retail outlets in the US and the UK. Many retailers are bundling adapters and microSD cards, but you only need to buy them if you don’t have them already.
And, for a little perspective (via Reddit), 1958 vs 2015:
What was your most recent DIY project using a Raspberry Pi computer? Do you plan to buy the Pi Zero and test its capabilities? Let us know in the comments below.
AIVAnet 