A rare fossil and a duck skull make an appearance at the AMNH
A nine-year-old girl patiently looked on while a technician pulled up a scan of her specimen. A 3D skull with a pointy beak popped up on the computer screen. The child, wearing clear frame glasses and a light grey tee with a sequined star on the front, walked up to her father who carefully put away the skull of a duck inside a round plastic container. They had found the tiny head on a beach and had decided to bring it in for Identification Day at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
Identifying objects is an annual tradition at the museum. Scientists from various departments including botany, paleontology, herpetology, entomology and more come out to help visitors make sense of their strange and sometimes rare objects. In addition to the mini-army of experts and the specimen-wielding families in the room, there’s a smattering of gadgets that stands out. A shiny hand-held microscope throws up images of tiny bugs on a large flatscreen TV, while a large 3D micro-CT scanner reveals the insides of a duck skull and a pine cone on a computer.
It’s a glimpse into the massive technologies that have sped up the process of discovery in the museum. In the micropaleontology department, for instance, scientists have been using Nikon SMZ1500 stereomicroscope to zoom into microfossils that are the size of dust particles. The machine allows them to see the inside chambers without ever cutting into the specimens. “It would take us months to make sections and study the internal structures,” says paleontologist Bushra M Hussaini who takes care of the fossil invertebrate collection. “Now we are able to do it in a day and have the results overnight.”
Powerful microscopes and CT scanners have changed the way extinct species and rare objects are identified. But that hasn’t ruled out the need for expert hands and eyes. “The only way to get good at identification is to look at countless items, just stuff your brain full of images, touch objects and roll them in your hands and absorb them,” says Carl Mehling, a paleontologist who has been analyzing visitors’ specimens for the last 16 years. “The web helps in one way, so I have access to many more types of fossils all around the world but essentially it’s the same thing –- looking at stuff.”
A rare vertebra from a Plesiosaur identified at the museum this weekend. Image credit: AMNH
The idea behind Identification Day is to educate young, curious visitors and connect with families who come in hoping that they stumbled upon the remains of a rare species in their backyard. “I get a lot of local common fossils and a lot of imagination and dreams on my table,” says Mehling. “But every now and then we see something weird and cool.”
Earlier in the day, when Mehling was looking at an object, he noticed a kid who had brought in a fossil from New Jersey. Looking at it from the corner of his eye, he thought the vertebra probably belonged to a whale since it’s a common occurrence on the east coast. But when he looked at it closely, flipped it over, he noticed two holes on the bottom. “Those are the markers for Plesiosaurus — giant reptiles from the end of the age of dinosaurs,” he says. “It was one of the best things I’ve seen in years. I’ve been collecting in Jersey since 1988 and I’ve never found one of these things. It’s very very rare.”
Later, when Mehling asked the mother and son where they found the Plesiosaur vertebra, the child replied: “In my backyard.”
Swiftly Switch – Edge Gesture: A multitasker’s dream
Overview
Swiftly Switch – Edge Gesture is a handy root-free multitasking tool that makes handling large phones easy and switching apps a breeze.
Developer: de-studio
Cost: Free ($1.99 Pro version)
Highlights
- Simple to set up (no root required)
- Highly customizable
- Easy to use
Setup
Setup is nice and straightforward, with no rooting required. Once you download and install the app, you can play with the settings and set up favorites. Once you have it where you like, just tap the edge to trigger the shortcut.
Impressions
With the screens on new phones getting ever larger, and the bodies ever thinner, people have been having a hard time getting a grip. Using large phones with one hand easily is becoming a challenge for many nowadays, especially for those with small hands. Swiftly Switch is an app that aims to help those who struggle with one-handed phone use, as well as power app users who jump between screens frequently.
Swiftly Switch is a multitasking app that allows you to bring up a menu of recently used apps in a shortcut on the side of your screen, kind of emulating the 3D Touch multitasking of the iPhone 6S line. You tap or swipe from the edge of the screen where you placed the trigger zone, and the menu pops up. It also has a handy shortcut menu for your favorite apps, as well as navigation buttons and access to settings like a wi-fi toggle and expanding the notification shade.
The app is highly customizable, even in the free version. You can adjust the visibility, size, position, and sensitivity of the shortcut, as well as customize the color that overlays the screen when you activate it. There is a clock and battery percentage widget that pops up when you trigger the shortcut, but that’s able to be turned off as well. In the paid version, you get the option of two different edge zones as well as support for icon packs and pinning apps to the menu.
On the downside, The Pro version of the app doesn’t add much functionality of note, and I can’t really justify the two dollars unless you really want that second edge zone. Beside that, using the app takes some getting used to. For the first few days I sometimes forgot it was even there, and resorted back to the traditional recent apps button on the navigation bar. Also, getting the shortcut in just the right placement and sensitivity takes some trial and error. Once you get the hang of it, however, the action becomes second nature.
Conclusion
Swiftly Switch is one of those utility apps that you can just effortlessly implement into your life and wonder how you lived without it. It makes jumping from app to app a breeze, and allows me to keep my huge Nexus 6P flat in my hand instead of having to shift it around to reach the navigation buttons and app drawer. I’d definitely recommend this app to anyone who struggles with larger phones, or the power user who wants to bring their multitasking to the next level.
Download Swiftly Switch – Edge Gesture on the Google Play Store
Best water-resistant Bluetooth speakers
Choose a great water-resistant Bluetooth speaker and singing in the shower will sound better than ever!
Bluetooth speakers are one of the most convenient ways to listen to music from pretty much any device. If you get yourself a water-resistant one, you don’t have to worry about it getting wet. Enjoy a poolside singalong by getting yourself a quality, water-resistant Bluetooth speaker. We’ve rounded up some of our favorites!
- Braven BRV-X
- Archeer
- Monster Superstar Backfloat
- Polk Audio BOOM Swimmer
- UE Boom 2
- JBL Flip 3
Braven BRV-X
The Braven BRV-X is built like a tank. It weighs about 1.5 pounds and is covered in a rubberized shockproof exterior that makes the BRV-X incredibly rugged.
It has a certified IPX7 waterproof rating allowing it to be fully submerged in three feet of water for 30 minutes and function perfectly fine. The ‘X’ in the rating also means it’s shock-proof. Plus, it’s dust and dirt-resistant.
It has a built-in microphone and speaker, which allows you to respond to phone calls without getting out of the pool. It boasts a 12 hour battery life, which is more than serviceable for a day lounging by the pool.
See at Amazon
Archeer portable outdoor speaker
This portable speaker is really great for people who want a speaker for camping, hiking, boating, or any other outdoor activities. It really embraces the portable side of things by being extremely light for being so rugged, meaning you can take it everywhere you go!
While the Archeer can’t be submerged in water, it’s IP64 rating means it’s extremely resistant to dust but still has splash protection.
It offers 12 hours of playing time, a built-in microphone for taking phone calls, and even an LED flashlight on the side making it perfect for night time use.
See at Amazon
Monster Superstar Backfloat
Monster’s speaker is a pretty cool machine. It has an IPX6 rating which means it can handle getting sprayed by water jets, since it’s water-resistant and shock-proof. If you were to take your garden hose and spray this speaker it would hold up just fine. Plus, it is also designed to float on it’s back when it’s in water, so it can chill in the pool with you.
The Superstar Backfloat has a soft silicone outer shell, making it able to handle some bumps and bruises along the way.
See at Amazon
Polk Audio BOOM Swimmer
This little speaker was conceived by the folks at Polk Audio to be as versatile as possible. The tail on the end of this tadpole-looking device is actually bendable to fit around shower curtain rods or swimming pool railings with ease.
The great thing about the swimmer is its waterproof rating makes it able to be submerged in up to three feet of water without suffering any damage. Perfect for the kids to play with in the pool or to hang up in your shower, the Swimmer sure knows how to deliver.
It is a little small compared to some of the other speakers we have featured in this round up; however, we all know size isn’t everything.
See at Amazon
FUGOO Tough
FUGOO made this speaker to withstand a nuclear war. It has an extremely high waterproof and dustproof rating making it as close to mudproof, snowproof, and shockproof as a portable speaker can get.
It has a whopping 40 hours of battery life, meaning you can listen to your favorite tunes, podcasts, and audiobooks for as long as you need to between charges.
It has impressive sound, sporting six drivers on all four sides, it offers truly deep sounding 360 degree sound no matter which way it’s facing. On top of being able to take phone calls it also has Google Now compatibility, meaning all your questions can be answered with the tap of a button. Bluetooth not working so well? There’s an AUX port on the back for wired playback.
See at Amazon
UE Boom 2
The UE Boom 2 does its best to live up to it’s onomatopoeic name by offering impressive 360 degree sound in a small package. It’s waterproof rating allows it to be submerged in three feet of water for 30 minutes and come out the other side working just fine. On top of being heavily water-resistant, it also is protected against dirt and mud and give you the ability to hand-wash the speaker with warm soapy water in order to clean it.
It has a battery life of 15 hours, and a Bluetooth range of 100 feet giving you more than enough time and space to enjoy your favorite sounds. Plus, if you find yourself lacking the power you want from just one UE Boom 2, you can set up another Boom 2 to make a stereo pair and really blow the roof off. It can also be entirely controlled from an app so you don’t need to even move to turn up the volume or skips songs.
See at Amazon
JBL Flip 3
The JBL Flip 3 is a small, but powerful speaker that doesn’t hurt the wallet as much as some of the other selections we have featured. It offers clear sound and a well-balanced mix of highs and lows in order to give you a great listening experience.
The Flip 3 is able to accommodate non-Bluetooth playback with an AUX port and still has a very strong dust and water-resistant rating. You won’t be able to fully submerge the Flip 3; however, it can withstand a decent drizzling of rain and some splashes from the pool.
You even have the ability to pair Flip 3’s together through the JBL connect app, meaning you can listening to your favorite jams even louder and in stereo!
Overall, for the price of the JBL Flip 3, it’s a very solid speaker that will work for all your indoor and outdoor sound needs.
See at Amazon
Do you use a water-resistant speaker?
Do you have any experience with water-resistant speakers? Sound off in the comments below and let us know which ones you like and why!
The After Math: Regulation Nation
Exciting news coming from the wild world of government rule making this week. The FDA signed off on a medical experiment designed to jumpstart your brain after it’s died. Surprisingly, no, lead-acid batteries are not involved. The FDA also made waves by denying minors the ability to buy e-cigarettes, prompting calls from the public for the agency to explain why it took so damn long to do so. The FAA relaxed its rules over drone swarms, Takata pissed off the DoT yet again and Tesla made the EPA look a little silly. Numbers, because the Feds said so.
Ben Heck’s auto-sanitizing doorknob
Ben is breaking warranties again this week as he hacks apart an ultraviolet germ sanitizer to make an auto-sanitizing doorknob. The Ben Heck Show team even goes so far as to compare samples of bacterial growth to see how effective the knob is at cleaning itself. Karen and Ben also review a piece of hardware they’ve been sent — Raspberry Pi Zero — and how it can be used in a future Fallout-inspired project. If you have an idea for Ben and the team to work on, join the element14 community, where you can find other makers and engineers, along with a library of project code.
From the Editor’s Desk: Call your mom
Today is Mother’s Day. You know, that one day out of the year in which you should treat moms as special as we should every other day of the year. That also means perhaps we should be spending the day with them, and not on the computer, reading random thoughts from some dude who writes about Android for a living.
But just in case that temptation is too much, I present some random thoughts from some dude who writes about Android for a living.
No go call your mom.
- Last week’s Qualcomm security scare is sort of an interesting one in that it’s not something to be patched in AOSP. It’s also not known to have actually affected anyone, but ZOMG AFFECTS MILLIONS OF DEVICES. And someone either has to actually have your phone or get you to install a malicious app for it to be a thing.
- Just be smart about things is what I’m saying. Again.
- Another shining example of the danger of ignorance. Glad it worked out OK. But there are too many times when it hasn’t.
- Tough blow for Uber and Lyft in Austin, Texas. I get the need for some actual regulation, but really hope these services don’t die as viable alternatives.
- That said … in NYC it’s still easier to get a cab a lot of the time. There’s room for both.
- Damn, that swing …
- Speaking of baseball, I took the LG 360 CAM to a game on Friday night.
- Can’t wait to finally try Samsung’s Gear 360. This is going to be a big, fun space, I think.
- A good thread for folks who wear sunglasses a lot and want the HTC 10.
That’s it this week. We’ve got a lot of Google I/O prep to do and a short time to do it in. And happy Mother’s Day to my mom, my wife and the mother of my kids, her mom, your mom, and all the moms.
Inhabitat’s Week in Green: Chicago’s high-flying cable cars
When it comes to transportation, no vehicle is more futuristic than the hoverboard — and it’s getting a lot closer to reality. This week a French inventor broke a Guinness World Record by flying 7,388 feet on a hovering device. Meanwhile, Chicago is considering building a line of high-flying crystalline cable cars throughout the city. Chrysler and Google teamed up to create a self-driving minivan, while Lyft announced plans to launch self-driving electric taxis within a year. We also interviewed Lucas Toledo, who created the Gi FlyBike, a futuristic electric bicycle that folds in half in a single second.
This week the US celebrated a renewable energy milestone as it installed its one millionth solar system, and that figure is set to double in the next two years. San Diego is moving forward with ambitious plans to become the largest US city to run completely on renewable energy. Two German states managed to reach 100-percent renewable energy, and solar power is now cheaper than coal in Dubai.
The UK’s bright red telephone booths are iconic, yet seldom used. That’s about to change, as a company is transforming the booths into tiny offices complete with 25-inch screens, WiFi, printers and vending machines. In another example of adaptive reuse, two designers are transforming old Swiss ski gondolas into cool electric saunas that can pop up anywhere in the world. In other design and technology news, Aerofarms is planning to build the world’s largest indoor vertical farm just 45 minutes from Manhattan. And if you hate doing laundry, this bicycle washing machine makes the chore just a little more exciting.
Microsoft won’t bug you to upgrade to Windows 10 after July 29th
Now that Windows 10’s free upgrade period is nearly over, you’re probably wondering how soon those seemingly inescapable upgrade prompts will go away on Windows 7 and 8.1 PCs. According to Microsoft, you won’t have to wait too long. The developer tells WinBeta that it will start disabling the Get Windows 10 app after July 29th, when it’ll cost money to upgrade to Windows 10, and will eventually remove the app entirely. It’ll take time to wind things down, Microsoft says. The software could still pester you for a while, then, but you probably won’t feel quite so much pressure to upgrade after this summer.
Via: The Verge
Source: WinBeta
Best TV catch-up on Freeview Play: Peaky Blinders, MasterChef and more
Freeview Play TVs, set-top-boxes and other entertainment kit give you the option to scroll back through the electronic programme guide and catch-up on shows you might have missed the previous week.
All you have to do it click on the show and it will open in each channel’s dedicated app and play.
At present, BBC, ITV and Channel 4 programming is available to scroll back to, while Channel 5’s can also be played through the Demand 5 app on supported devices. UKTV Play shows are also coming to the platform.
Of course, with so much control and content at your fingertips the choice of what to watch can be overwhelming. That’s why we’ve put together a handy list of the best of the last seven days for you to check out. Just navigate backwards on the Freeview Play EPG to check them out.
READ: What is Freeview Play, when is it coming to my TV and how can I get it?
BBC
Peaky Blinders
BBC Two (BBC iPlayer) – broadcast on Thursday 5 May
Birmingham-based gangster tale Peaky Blinders returns for a third season, with the first episode screening on Wednesday. That means you can catch-up with the explosive beginning of what is shaping up to be the most tense and exciting series yet.
It stars Hollywood heavyweights Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy and Paddy Considine, so you can be guaranteed of the acting quality.
BBC
MasterChef
BBC One (BBC iPlayer) – broadcast on Friday 6 May
The 2016 MasterChef winner was crowned this week so now’s your chance to catch up on the final of one of the most enduring reality TV shows around.
A word of warning though, you might not want to watch it while you eat a microwave meal for one. Every mouthful will taste more and more like sawdust as you see what the final contestants cook up.
BBC
The Genius of David Bowie
BBC Four (BBC iPlayer) – broadcast on Friday 6 May
A well timed repeat of BBC archive footage of Bowie in action, The Genius of David Bowie shows us exactly why he continues to be mourned by fans around the world.
It also features performances by artists connected to him in some way, either through songs he wrote or simply friends. These include Mott the Hoople, Lulu, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed.
BBC
Hinterland
BBC Four (BBC iPlayer) – broadcast on Saturday 7 May
With a third series currently in production, BBC Four is reshowing the second and the feature length special that preceded it.
The gritty crime drama has been a big critical hit, with Welsh and English language versions being made simultaneously. It’s now on episode three, which you can catch up on this week.
ITV
Drive
ITV 1 (ITV Hub) – broadcast on Tuesday 3 May
Another reality series to reach its conclusion this week was Drive. Celebrities, including Johnny Vegas, Professor Green, Ella Eyre and Angus Dayton, raced each other across a number of different disciplines, with the grand final now available on catch-up.
If you want to see who took the gong in the final races, here’s your chance.
ITV
Pawn Stars
ITV 4 (ITV Hub) – broadcast on Monday 2 May – Wednesday 4 May
Pawn Stars can be described as a cross between Antiques Roadshow and a televised version of eBay.
Set in the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas, the reality TV show mainly focuses on items brought in by customers, who are willing to part with them if the price is right. However, it also follows the lives of the Harrison family who own the store, along with employee Austin Russell.
ABC
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
E4 (All 4) – broadcast on Sunday 1 May
E4 is the home of the series based on Marvel Comics’ S.H.I.E.L.D. organisation, which is now well into its third season.
The latest episodes air each Sunday, but as it is nearing the end of the series you might want to simply grab a taste to see if you fancy picking up a box set of previous showings.
Get catch-up and on demand TV for £0 per month with Freeview Play. Click here to find out more.
Luxembourg’s spacecraft will test its asteroid mining tech
Luxembourg is pouring some of its wealth into the development and launch of a spacecraft that could make it even richer. The tiny European country has teamed up with California-based Deep Space Industries to create Prospector-X, an experimental spacecraft designed to test some of their asteroid-mining technologies.
DSI will equip the spacecraft with its water-based propulsion and optical navigation systems. The team then plans to send the 30-centimeter (or around 12-inch) probe to low-Earth orbit “in the near future” to make sure their design works. Prospector-X will remain in LEO, but if the test is successful, its successors will be sent to mine near-Earth asteroids for gold and platinum.
Luxembourg and DSI aren’t the only ones with extraterrestrial gold and platinum dreams. Larry Page-backed Planetary Resources announced its plans to mine asteroids a few years ago and even launched its first satellite from the ISS in 2015. President Obama also signed the US Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act into law last year, allowing companies to keep whatever they mine from outer space.
Via: Gizmodo
Source: Deep Space Industries
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