London through the eyes of Pokemon Go

Pokémon Go is about as phenomenal as phenomena get. It’s breaking records, making headlines and it’s only just appeared, not even launching in the UK yet. 

But there are means and ways of getting Pokémon Go in the UK, and London is a map full of delights to explore.

For those who don’t know, Pokémon Go is a mobile game that fuses the world of Pokémon (gotta catch ’em all!) with your real world. It does this by portraying your character on a virtualisation of the map where you are, creating game locations out of real world points of interest. Then there’s the augmented reality, letting you throw your Poké Balls at your Pokémon in AR, which is so much fun.

For a city like London, where almost every building has a history and every street corner a story, it’s littered with Poké Stops, which sit on points of interest. You can’t walk down a London street without tapping and collecting Poké Balls, potions and other objects – as well as running into plenty of Pokémon to catch.

• Can’t get Pokemon Go in your country yet? Here’s how to download it now
• Pokemon Go by the numbers: 11 amazing, mind-boggling facts about the AR game
• Pokemon Go coming to UK, Europe and other countries “within days”

Then there’s the Gyms. Ultimately, Pokémon Go is about capturing, developing and battling your Pokémon and the competitive aspect happens at these Gyms, and London is full of them, in some very prominent places. Is Big Ben a Pokémon Gym? You betcha – those sitting in Parliament on lazy days will be battling for supremacy.

Pokémon Go has yet to launch in the UK, but there’s evidently a lot of people playing already, because the Gym bosses are out in force, ready to face you in battle as you try to take control. Here’s what you can expect when you hit the streets playing Pokémon Go.

Click here to dive into our gallery.

We might not be able to use Martian water after all

Remember those dark streaks NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spotted running down canyons and hillsides on the red planet? They indicated the presence of water, which was a cause for celebration, as having water on Mars means astronauts won’t have to carry as much when they visit. Unfortunately, a new study says the planet’s water might not be drinkable. Worse, it might not even exist. A team of scientists from the University of Arizona looked more closely into those dark streaks called “recurrent slope linae” or RSL in an effort to figure out their origin.

Some scientists think they’re caused by melting ice, but the new study rules that out. Most RSLs are located near the planet’s equator, and any ice in those locations would have melted long ago. If the water that causes those RSLs come from underground, though, the team believes it would be buried really deep beneath the surface. That would make it hard to get to and would mean it’s too salty — we can’t drink it, just as we can’t drink water from the Dead Sea.

Based on the data they have, however, the team has concluded that the most likely source of water causing those RSLs is the atmosphere. It’s possible that the air in Martian canyons could be extremely humid, enough to transfer water to the ground. But if that’s still not the RSLs’ water source, then those dark streaks might be nothing but dry flows, landslides caused by changes in temperature. That would make water in those areas non-existent, crushing NASA’s dreams of being able to harness local water for the first humans on the red planet.

While sending a rover over could contaminate any water present in those canyons, NASA already announced in June that Curiosity will be driving to those canyons make its own investigation. That said, various research teams are still suggesting different ways to look at them more closely, including recreating the dark streaks here on Earth or sending over gliders to look at them from above.

Via: American Geophysical Union, Popular Mechanics

Source: Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets

Mercedes to show its Tesla-fighting electric sedan in September

It’s no secret that Mercedes-Benz eventually wants to compete with Tesla, not just partner with it, and you won’t have to wait much longer to see how that rivalry shakes out. The company’s David McCarthy tells Motoring.com.au that you should see a concept version of Merc’s Tesla-beating electric sedan in September, or shortly before the Paris Motor Show. Its exact specs are a mystery (even McCarthy hasn’t seen it; you’re looking at the IAA Concept), but it should sit in the Model S’ price bracket and offer similar driving range when it launches, most likely in 2018. There were previously teases that it would be “dangerously fast,” in case there was any doubt that it would be a performance-minded ride.

The automaker’s ace in the hole might not be anything design-related, however. Rather, it could be production: McCarthy notes that Tesla faces a “challenge” in making so many cars on time and within budget. That shouldn’t be a problem for an industry veteran like Mercedes, he argues. And while he’s unsure that the car is built to be a “Tesla killer,” he admits that Elon Musk and crew will “probably have good reason” to worry about it.

In that sense, Tesla may be shifting focus to the more affordable Model 3 at just the right time. Although Mercedes (or rather, Daimler) technically has low-cost electric cars like the Smart Fortwo Electric, they’re not exactly mainstream. Tesla will be targeting an audience that Mercedes has largely left untapped, so it won’t have to worry all that much if its higher-end car sales take a hit.

Via: Autoblog

Source: Motoring.com.au

Segway creator’s advanced prosthetic arm arrives in late 2016

Segway creator Dean Kamen’s Luke prosthetic arm has been a long time in coming — the FDA approved it two years ago. At last, however, it’s nearly here. Mobius Bionics has revealed that it will offer the Luke arm sometime in late 2016. It’s not clear what it will take to get one (you can register your interest today), but the features remain the same. The bionic wearable is all about offering the life-like dexterity that hasn’t really been an option until now: you can hold a glass over your head without spilling it, for example, and the hand’s mix of four motors and grip sensors can help you grab both very delicate and very heavy items. The odds are that getting one won’t be trivial, but it might well be justified if it grants some extra freedom.

Source: Mobius Bionics (BusinessWire)

Telescopes catch the aftermath of a black hole swallowing a star

Astronomers have observed a supermassive black hole swallowing a star 3.9 billion light years from Earth. The group used the European VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry) network of telescopes, so big it’s described as “Earth-sized”, to observe the phenomenon.

Thanks to the scale of the telescope network, the radio astronomers were able to detect the event and note “record-sharp” observations, despite it being so far away. Interestingly, the network relies on different-sized telescopes to work accurately — the largest are more sensitive but those with a larger field-of-view (like the 25-m radio telescopes in China and Sweden) were equally important in the observation.

Following three years of observations, the group was able to confirm that the “relatavistic jets” — the ejection of a narrow stream of particles at the near-speed of light — remained static. The astronomers hope the garnered data will both give better insight into what happens when a super-massive black hole destroys a star but also how newly-formed jets respond to new conditions.

Via: Wired

Source: Chalmers SE

Change up your space with robotic furniture from Ori

Need a way to dramatically improve your living space? How about robotic furniture? No, it’s not some far-off dream for the future. It’s a collaboration between MIT Media Lab spin-off Ori with designer Yves Béhar.

Ori is introducing a line of architectural robotics, as they’re described, which are meant to transform the way we arrange and decorate our bedrooms. Using these special pieces of furniture, you could theoretically take a studio apartment and transform it into a much larger space with plenty more functionality.

The line of connected products is set to offer innovation for those in urban areas, where simply pressing a button can change a living room into a bedroom, walk-in closet or even an office connected via “smart-home ecosystem.” In fact, the Ori line gets its name from “origami,” which makes sense when you consider The first residential versions of the furniture will be rolled out by developers in Boston, Washington DC and Seattle this summer and the program will be accepting pilot program partners in early 2017.