Space architecture: Six buildings for the final frontier
By Cat DiStasio
Mars has captured the world’s attention recently, but space agencies around the globe haven’t forgotten that there’s a whole slew of other planets out there. And with continued planetary exploration, of course, comes the necessity to set up bases that can support life, research and agriculture far, far away from home. Science and farming intersect in outer space, and the results are like nothing here on Earth. Many buildings designed for space rely on creative approaches like 3D printing, solar power, native materials and portability. We’ve included six structures in our gallery below, and each is more unique than the one that comes before it.
One-year timelapse video of the sun shows its dancing corona
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory was only designed to fly for five years, but it has celebrated six years of 24/7 solar observation on February 11th. The ultraHD video below the fold is a timelapse that stitches together images the spacecraft captured during that sixth year, from January 1st, 2015 to January 28th, 2016. Since each frame represents two hours and the photos were taken in extreme ultraviolet range, you can clearly see the sun’s corona dancing and undulating throughout the video.
Extreme ultraviolet is commonly used in solar imaging. Photos taken in that wavelength shows parts of the corona — the aura of plasma that surrounds the sun — burning at around 1,079,540 degrees F. As Paris Hilton used to say: that’s hot. Besides the undulating plasma, you might also notice that the sun gets bigger and smaller ever so slightly in the video. That’s because SDO takes images from various distances as it orbits the Earth.
NASA sent out SDO to monitor the sun in order to better understand its electromagnetic system and solar phenomena like flares and coronal mass ejections. CMEs, in particular, can cause geomagnetic storms that can disable satellites and even power grids.
Source: NASA
Duplicate Files Fixer review: automatically detect and remove duplicate items to save space.
Does your device run out of storage, forcing you to painstakingly go through your phone and delete your contents ? Too busy or just too tired to go through your contents? Worry no more! Duplicate Files Fixer(free), available and rated 4.5 stars on the Google Play Store, does all this for you.
Objective View
Entailing a simplistic and easy to use interface, this is a user-friendly application that can be operated 
by anyone. Within the program, you are met by several options including Scan Audio, Scan Videos, Scan Pictures, Scan Documents and Full Scan.
Upon inspecting the miscellaneous categories, your device will scan each for the respective content and display a screen with all the duplicates. It then has all the duplicates selected and gives you the ability to unmark the duplicates you intend on keeping. After pressing the delete button, you are asked to confirm your decision in the event of you making an error.
Although the purpose of this application is to optimize your tech by cleaning duplicate files, it does not include the option to delete the original file. Sometimes when choosing what to clean, you may come across files you have no intention of keeping and want to delete it as well as the duplicate, but alas, you can only remove the duplicate and have to locate the original afterwards. Perhaps developers would take a look into that matter.
Summary
I used this application for a mere few hours and found that it is an absolute blessing. I was able to delete approximately 800 megabytes of duplicate files alone, including pictures, voice notes, music tracks and documents. It’s a really simple program and has only one screen excluding 
the help menu which includes a basic tutorial of pictures. Despite the few flaws and improvements which could be made, Duplicate Files Fixer was definitely well thought out and has a smooth and polished UI.
In conclusion, this simple program is definitely worth downloading, and it will most definitely help you clean up your device and free some space for your more important information, but more so, it will help save your time.
Google Play Store – Duplicate File Fixer
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Love is in the air with AT&T’s buy one smartphone get one free program
Valentine’s day is a perfect excuse to upgrade your phone as well as your significant others’ device. AT&T is now running a buy one get one program on select smartphones for this celebration of love.
Here are the highlights of the program:
- Available to new and existing customers
- Both phones must be purchased on AT&T Next
- The first phone can be a new line or an upgrade
- The second phone must be a new line and purchased on AT&T Next 24
- Add both phones to a qualified plan, like Mobile Share Value, for as low as $70 a month for two phones
- Starting in up to three bill cycles you will receive up to $650 in 30 monthly bill credits
Remember one of the lines must be new so you cannot upgrade two lines with existing phone numbers. And the deal does apply to iPhones, Samsung and LG devices. Keep in mind that Mobile World Congress is just a couple weeks away where we will be getting the latest releases from Samsung and LG, so if you want the latest and greatest it might be in your best interest to wait.
Learn more at AT&T
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Recommended Reading: Twitter’s identity crisis
What Everyone’s Got Wrong About Twitter (Including Twitter)
Ian Schafer,
Recode
Twitter’s earnings dropped this week, followed by a number of theories on the future of the company. Deep Focus founder and chairman Ian Schafer posted an op-ed on the matter to discuss the social network’s identity crisis. Is it a media company? Is it a data company? Schafer makes the case that Twitter needs to decide soon, for it’s own good.
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11 Ways to Live a Super Bowl Carolina Panthers center Ryan Kalil toted a Leica M during Super Bowl week to offer a player’s perspective of the biggest sports event of the year in the US. |
Writing ‘Firewatch,’ and Capturing the Beauty of Being Alone There’s no denying that Firewatch is one of most visually stunning games in recent memory, and the narrative only enhances the beauty. |
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Excuse My French: The Dirty Secrets of Hip-hop’s Clean Versions There’s a story about MTV having to make four different versions of Clipse’s song “Grindin’” to weed out all the marijuana references. This piece offers a look into the process of making hip-hop tracks “safe” for consumption. |
And Then There Were Four: Phone Booths Saved on Upper West Side Sidewalks As NYC converts phone booths to public WiFi kiosks, only a select few remain. But hey, at least they’re being upgraded, too. |
Astronaut Scott Kelly will answer questions from space on Tumblr
Scott Kelly, the NASA astronaut with a green thumb, is hosting Answer Time on Tumblr right from the ISS. What’s “Answer Time,” you ask? It’s like Reddit’s AMA where the host fields questions from readers, so if you missed Kelly’s AMA earlier this year, now’s your chance. Here’s a short background on Kelly, in case you’re still thinking of what to ask: he’s known as the American who has spent the most time in space and is currently on a year-long mission aboard the ISS.
Besides conducting experiments of his own on the space station, he also serves as a subject for NASA’s twins study. Scott has a twin brother named Mark who’s a former astronaut, and NASA is keeping a close eye on both of them to see what changes a human body goes through during long periods of space travel. You can already submit any question that pops into your head, but Kelly (who’s busy doing astronaut things) will only start answering on February 13th, 1:45PM ET.
Source: Tumblr
ICYMI: Cotton Candy body parts, robotic bartender and more
Today on In Case You Missed It: Vanderbilt University scientists whipped up some human capillaries by using a cotton candy machine to properly shape channels for the blood vessels. A Kickstarter project is selling a tiny video camera attachment with a flexible cord to aim and drop it into places you normally can’t see, like inside a car engine. And the University of Maryland is training a robot to make drinks by watching a human; a process that is far more adorable than you’d first think.
There are lots of great stories out this week, but we’d first recommend reading up on how ripples in the fabric of spacetime do really exist, then how Marc Andreesen managed to insult nearly everyone from India.
As always, please share any interesting science or tech videos, anytime! Just tweet us with the #ICYMI hashtag to @mskerryd.
iPhone soon becoming ‘full replacement’ for Apple TV remote
TV remotes are all well and good, but they have a nasty habit of coming up missing at the worst possible moment — Apple TV’s new wand isn’t immune to this malady. It should come as good news then that Cupertino’s planning an update for the remote app on iOS with new features like voice commands with Siri. The news comes by way of an interview with Apple’s Eddie Cue and Craig Federighi on tech pundit John Gruber’s podcast this week.
More than that, if you’re playing a two player game, an iPhone can sub in as a second controller. Handy! “It really is a full replacement,” Federighi says. Beyond “a couple of months,” though, there’s no firm release date for the update. If you want more insight into Apple TV stuff (like Bluetooth keyboard support), check out the full episode; app talk starts at 22:09.
Via: TechCrunch
Source: Daring Fireball
Check out these great NVIDIA SHIELD game discounts
If you have a NVIDIA SHIELD gamer in your life (including yourself), why not treat them this Valentine’s? Ending on the 14th February, a few select titles are available with up to 67% off the original price, from both the GeForce NOW store and Google Play.
If you’re the exploring type, there are two adventure gems you can pick up in the GeForce NOW store and stream on SHIELD, plus puzzle-, arcade-, strategy- and adventure-game options you can pick up from Google Play. Read on for a rundown on all the titles.
Fall in love with The Park and Submerged
Any adventure game fan will definitely enjoy the spine-tingling thrills provided by The Park, which you can pick up in the GeForce NOW store for 33% off the standard $12.99 price. Step into the shoes of a frantic mother searching for her lost son in a creepy amusement park after hours. The intense storyline will keep you on the edge of your seat—and guessing—until the very end. (Purchase includes a digital download code you can use to play the game on a local PC.)
Sounds very… uh… eerie…
For a more relaxing adventure, check out Submerged, which lets you explore a mysterious and beautiful world and uncover its story at your own pace. You play as Miku, a young girl who must navigate through a flooded city to find a cure for her ailing younger brother. Submerged’s emphasis on narrative, exploration, and non-violent puzzle-solving makes it a safe, refreshing choice you can share with anyone. You can pick Submerged up now in the GeForce NOW store at 25% off the standard $19.99 price. (Purchase includes a digital download code you can use to play the game on a local PC.)
A GeForce NOW membership is required to purchase and play these games on SHIELD. Membership is free for the first three months, then just $7.99 month thereafter. Membership also gives you instant access to more than 60 additional games!
To play, navigate to the GeForce NOW menu within SHIELD Hub on your SHIELD Android TV, portable or tablet. You’ll find Submerged and The Park available for purchase in the Buy and Play Instantly category.
Up To 67% Savings On Four Google Play Games!
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In addition to the savings on these two PC adventure games that you can stream on SHIELD with GeForce NOW, we’re also offering the following four native Android games at up to 67% off in the Google Play store.
JuJu
Join JuJu the shaman panda and his lizard sidekick, Peyo, for a colorful platform-style adventure to save the world from an ancient evil. Don’t let the cute characters and brightly animated levels fool you – enemies will challenge you at every hop, swing, and jump. Square off against towering robots, deadly sea creatures, and more either by yourself or with a friend in co-op play. JuJu is available now for 50% off its standard $9.99 price.
Dustoff Heli Rescue for SHIELD
Actions fans will enjoy this SHIELD exclusive, visually enhanced version of the arcade hit Dustoff Heli Rescue. Take off for a series of 25 harrowing search-and-rescue missions in one of three types of helicopters that have different handling characteristics, payload limits, and weapons. Dustoff Heli Rescue for SHIELD is available now for 50% off its standard $2.99 price.
This War of Mine
In This War of Mine, a role-playing simulation game, you will experience war from the perspective of civilians trying to survive against long odds in a besieged city. Lack of food and medicine, and constant danger from snipers and other scavengers are just a few of your worries. Life-and-death decision-making is at the core of this game, and your conscience will be your guide. Grab This War of Mine now for 66% off its standard $14.49 price.
Windward
Hit the high seas in Windward, an open-world, role-playing adventure game in which you explore a procedurally generated world filled with treasure and rival captains. Sink your enemies, plunder their cargo and visit towns to upgrade your ship and crew to try for even bigger rewards. It’s a pirate’s life for you! Windward is available now for 67% its standard $9.99 price.
The post Check out these great NVIDIA SHIELD game discounts appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Tesla improves Summon feature with more safety
Tesla’s slow but steady progression towards fully autonomous driving continues. Last month, the company announced beta testing of its “Summon” remote parking feature.The California-based electric vehicle maker is updating the feature to increase the safety factor.
Of course, while Tesla might want to make it more safe, at least one Tesla driver wants to make it cooler, in a very Silicon Valley sort of way. He’s using an Apple Watch app to summon his Tesla Model S out of the garage, as you can see in the one-minute video above.
In a February 8 blog post, the Tesla team detailed how Summon can improve safety because the feature engages the vehicle’s sensors to stop the car if it’s about to hit an object. Additionally, Tesla’s adding a feature that stops the car from moving when the car owner’s finger is disconnected from either the smartphone or fob (i.e. the car won’t keep rolling if the owner drops his or her keys).
“While these additional layers of security will not completely eliminate accidents when using semi-autonomous features like Summon, when used correctly, they can reduce their occurrence relative to conventional driving,” Tesla wrote.
As it is, Tesla’s already touting Summon as a convenience perk. Not only can the feature engage the vehicle to move itself out of a garage, but the car can park itself when there’s a tight parking space that wouldn’t otherwise allow for those Model S or falcon-winged Model X doors to open without dinging the adjacent vehicle.
Tesla first announced Summon on January 10 as part of a suite of improvements to the 7.1 software suite that included a number of autonomous-driving features. The feature allows the cars to drive as far as 33 feet on its own at a speed of about one mile per hour.
Via: Hybrid Cars
Source: Tesla Motors Blog
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