New policy demands 20 percent of federal code be open source

For years, the Obama Administration has been pushing for greater transparency and parity between federal agencies and the general public. After months of negotiations and discussions, the Office of Management and Budget is easing open federal computer code for inspection. The OMB revealed its finalized requirements for the Federal Source Code policy on Monday, which demand federal projects make at least 20 percent of their computer code open source. What’s more, agencies will be expected to share all internally-developed code with one another.

The OMB plans to test this new policy during a two-year pilot program. Should the release of this code be deemed more valuable than whatever issues and unforeseen pitfalls arise from its being made public, the OMB may decide to increase the open-source requirements. In fact, until just recently, the OMB was pushing to make all federally created code to be open source. This data will be made available on Code.gov, a clearinghouse site that should launch in the next couple of months.

While this is certainly a commendable first step by the Obama Administration towards openness and transparency, two key positions of the president’s 2012 platform, much more remains to be done. These new rules don’t apply to privately developed code, even if it’s used by the government. For example, Wiscon’s use of the COMPAS sentencing software were recently deemed constitutional — at least, not a violation of a defendant’s due process rights — despite nobody outside the company knowing how the proprietary algorithms actually work.

Source: Federal Times

Apple Partners With South Korean Company to Develop Hollow Batteries for ‘Project Titan’ Car Project

Last year, it was reported that Apple has poached Samsung engineers to develop battery technologies for its widely rumored electric vehicle, and now another unnamed South Korean company may be involved with the project.

Korean site ETNews now reports that a small Korean battery company, which comprises 20 or so employees described as “expert technologists in batteries,” has been tapped to co-develop batteries for the so-called Apple Car.

Apple is planning to independently develop its own batteries for electric vehicles based on the Korean company’s patented hollow battery technology, according to the report. They are described as cylindrical lithium-ion secondary batteries with a thickness of two fingers and uniquely hollow centers.

Because batteries create most heat from the center due to chemical reactions, this company has created batteries where air flow and cooling are smooth in the center of batteries and this can minimize installation of separate cooling device or a device that prevents over-heating. They are also advantageous in high output. By utilizing this space, it is easy to design parallel connection, which is to expand battery capacity, in these batteries.

The report does not disclose the company’s name due to its recently signed non-disclosure agreement with Apple.

MacRumors went searching and uncovered a European Patent Office patent application for a hollow type secondary battery filed by Korean company Orange Power. According to its website, the company has 25 employees in R&D, and 33 total, which together with the patent application suggests it could be Apple’s secretive partner. At this point, however, it remains purely speculation.

Apple recently appointed Bob Mansfield, a longtime senior executive at the company, to oversee development of the electric vehicle, said to be codenamed “Project Titan” internally. He is believed to lead a team of hundreds of engineers from the likes of Tesla, Ford, GM, battery company A123 Systems, and elsewhere. The vehicle could be street-ready between 2019 and 2021, according to various reports.

Apple Granted Patent for ‘Articulated Vehicle’

TTC streetcars in Toronto, Canada are articulated vehicles (Photo: Tom Ryaboi)
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office today granted Apple with a patent, transferred from BAE Systems, for an invention titled “steering device for articulated vehicle.” U.S. Patent No. 9,409,599, filed in July 2015, describes various steering devices for an articulated vehicle, such as a pivoting bus or transport truck. While vehicle-related, the patent’s relation to Apple’s electric vehicle is questionable.

Related Roundup: Apple Car
Tags: etnews.com, South Korea
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Apple Seeds Fifth Beta of macOS Sierra to Developers

Apple today released the fifth beta of macOS Sierra, the newest operating system designed for the Mac, to developers. macOS Sierra beta 5 comes one week after the release of the fourth beta and approximately two months after the software was first unveiled at Apple’s 2016 Worldwide Developers Conference.

Developers can download today’s beta update through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store or through the Apple Developer Center.

macOS Sierra is a major update that brings Siri to the Mac for the first time, allowing users to conduct voice searches to quickly find files, look up information, and more. New Continuity features offer an “Auto Unlock” option for unlocking a Mac with an Apple Watch and a “Universal Clipboard” for copying text on one Apple device and pasting it on another.

Deeper iCloud integration allows files stored on the desktop or the Documents folder of a Mac to be accessed on all of a user’s devices, and Photos features deep learning algorithms for improved facial, object, and scene recognition. There’s also a Memories feature for displaying photo collections, and Messages has rich links, bigger emoji, and “Tapback” response options.

Apple Pay is coming to the web in macOS Sierra, with payments authenticated through an iPhone or Apple Watch, and new features like multiple tabs, Picture in Picture multitasking, optimized storage, and revamped emoji are also available.

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During the beta testing period, Apple tweaks and refine the features introduced in macOS Sierra to prepare it for public release. In macOS Sierra beta 4, Apple introduced new emoji promoting gender equality and introduced a new look for many existing emoji with new textures and design tweaks. Any changes found in the fifth beta will be listed below.

macOS Sierra is currently available to developers and public beta testers, and it will see a wider public release this fall. For full details on all of the new features included in macOS Sierra, make sure to check out our macOS Sierra roundup.

Related Roundup: macOS Sierra
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Will my phone get updated to Android Nougat?

Jerry looks into his crystal ball and asks: Will your phone get an Android 7.0 update?

It’s time for a new version of Android, and that means I also get to make my yearly predictions about updates. Fun times!

Now, to be sure, unless a manufacturer has already committed to updating an existing phone, these are simply (mostly) educated guesses. We base them on a company’s track record, the capabilities of the phone itself, and the number of phones a company makes. It’s sort of like a blogger version of reading tea leaves and calling the bookmakers. And it’s fun. Even when we get it wrong it’s fun.

Since we’re here because we are interested in Android, and most of us like to have a little fun, let’s jump right in and answer the million dollar question — will my phone get updated to Android 7 Nougat?

Nexus phones

We’ll start with the easy ones. Nexus phones aren’t actually built by Google, but they are built to Google’s specifications and they have absolute control over all of the software. They also aren’t afraid to disappoint and tell us which phones are getting updated, and which phones are not.

• The Nexus 6 will be updated to Android Nougat.
• The Nexus 5X will be updated to Android Nougat.
• The Nexus 6P will be updated to Android Nougat.
• Android One models will be updated to Android Nougat.
• On the non-phone side, the Nexus 9 will be updated to Android Nougat. The same goes for the Nexus Player.

This means the Nexus 5 and the Nexus 7 2013 aren’t getting updated. Nobody who is still using either is happy about it, but Google has made it clear that they support phones with new platform updates for a minimum of two years, and provide security and bug fixes for phones as long as they are able.The good news is that both the Nexus 5 and the Nexus 7 2013 are super easy to drop a custom Android 7 ROM on, and we’ll see them shortly after Google puts out the source code for the new update. #420ROOTIT.

Samsung phones

Android’s elephant in the room, Samsung sells about as many Android phones as everyone else combined. A lot of those phones are ones nobody expects to be updated, and a good many of them are models none of us knows a lot about. These phones and the low-end models from other companies are the new flip phone. A lot of people buy them because they are cheap, and they look good compared to a phone with a tiny screen and a number pad. We’re not going to go there, and if any of those phones get updated we’re happy and surprised.

• The Galaxy Note 7 will be updated to Android Nougat.
• The Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge will be upgraded to Android Nougat.
• The Galaxy Note 5 will be updated to Android Nougat.
• The Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge and Galaxy S6 edge+ will all be updated to Android Nougat.

Every other model is still a big old question mark. I think some of them, based on things like existing stock, the number of units sold and ease (price) of securing parts if they have to make more of them will get an Android 7 update. Others, with very similar hardware and software, won’t. This isn’t some sort of conspiracy thing where Samsung is trying to force you to buy a new phone. It’s a business decision that we don’t like. Supporting the phones they sell with bug and security fixes for two years is another story for another article.

The real question is when. Looking at Samsung’s track record from last year, I’ll say the Note 7 and Galaxy S7 series will get the Android 7 update in February 2017. The Note 5 and the S6 series will get shortly after. Samsung will eventually give a good timetable about it, and it will be wrong just like the rest of the timetables that nobody likes to commit to. Software be hard, y’all. Do it right Samsung, and I’d be happy to see you get things ready faster than my predictions.

LG

Just like last year LG is scrambling to be able to get into the comments and say FIRST! We already know that the LG V20 will be running Android 7.0 and we get to see it on September 6. While not technically an update, we’ll let it slide. The good news is that this all means LG has had access to the Android 7 code for a while now (all manufacturers have) and the updates for existing phones should follow on the heels of the V20 release. Right? Probably not.

• The LG G5 will be updated to Android Nougat.
• The LG G4 will be updated to … just kidding.

No, really. The LG G4 and LG V10 might get updated, and they could be made better with Android 7, but each has a strike against it. The G4 seems like one of those phones LG wishes they could take back. It has a beautiful screen and seems very capable, but the components were plagued with hardware problems and the software just wasn’t ready. If you have a G4 that the mainboard hasn’t taken a ride in that long black Cadillac (yet) and can put up with the quirks of LG’s software and occasional glitches, I hope they can update it to Nougat and fix some of the issues for you. The phone deserves it. But I’m not holding my breath.

The V10’s problem is its limited release. The unlocked international versions aside — which don’t have complete LTE support in North America — the rest are mostly carrier phones. That means your carrier gets to decide if they want to fuss with updating it. Bloatware be hard, y’all. With an updated V model coming shortly, will LG and the carriers want to spend the time or money to update the V10?

I don’t think so.

Like Samsung, some of LG’s other more inexpensive phones will surprise us with an update. We’re not about to guess which ones in which countries.

Motorola slash Lenovo

While we can guess about the update situation from Motorola, one thing we know for sure is that they aren’t going to make the same mistake as last time and promise updates they aren’t 100% sure they will be delivering. A lot of factors went into that decision, but the end result is the same no matter the reason — customers were understandably pissed off, and it looked like Motorola lied to us. It’s not the first time a company has made this mistake (and it won’t be the last) but it’s recent and we still taste the sourness.

• The Moto Z (all variants) will be updated to Android Nougat.
• The Moto G4 will be updated to Android Nougat.
• The Moto X Play and Moto X Style will be updated to Android Nougat.

Lenovo is going to be looking forward, and models released before they bought Motorola are mostly done for. The good news is that Lenovo should be able to pump out the updates in short order if they want to do so. We could see the update cycle starting before Christmas.

HTC

HTC has already announced that the HTC 10, the HTC One A9 and the HTC One M9 will be getting Android N. Good. All three of these phones should be good for another year with the new software.

We can’t say with 100% certainty that HTC will be making two beautiful Nexus phones for 2016 (nodding head they totally are), but if they are (they totally are) that means they’ve had plenty of time to play with the code and see any hurdles that might come into play when updating older hardware. A head start can be important, and HTC should start rolling out the updates within 60 days of the code dropping.

I’ll pull a shocker and say that the A9 gets it first. You guys will remind me if (when) I’m wrong. It’s basically a Nexus when it comes to the software (I’m sure that wasn’t an accident) so there isn’t a lot of malarky necessary to get it up and running. Svelte and the new Doze should make the A9 great again.

HTC’s higher end Desire models should see an update, but of course some won’t. We know HTC wants to differentiate themselves by being great with updates. Sometimes they are.

Huawei

Huawei had a pretty decent beta build for the Huawei P9 leak out recently. We know they are working on it already. They’ve also started to tone down EMUI which should make building the new version even easier. And easier on our eyes. #OO

• I’m going to say that the Mate 8 and the P8 also get an update to Android 7.0. Don’t make me regret it, Huawei. Baby needs a new pair of shoes. Or something.
• The Honor 5X will be updated to Android Nougat.

Huawei is thirsty for the number one spot. That’s a tough nut to crack, but they could easily grab the number two spot (by devices sold) and keep trying throughout 2017. They also know how to filter the feedback from the Android die-hards (that’d be you and me) to alter what they do and how they do it. Getting updates out quickly for their best models is a part of that. It makes you and me happy and we say nice things online and recommend them to others.

Since it’s prediction season here’s a free one — Huawei’s fierce competition will make Samsung change parts of their business model. Expect faster updates, more refined features and more generic hardware from the Korean giant. We’re already seeing it. Nobody adapts like Samsung.

Honorable mentions

With about 13,000 different models of Android phone out in the wild, we can’t cover everything. But there are some phones we have to mention by name even if we aren’t writing a flowery paragraph or two about them.

• The OnePlus 3 will get updated to Android Nougat, but not nearly as fast as some users would like. The OP3’s target audience is broader than their previous models, but nerds still buy them. Nerds want Nougat.
• The NVIDIA Shield TV will be upgraded to Android Nougat fairly quickly, but the Shield Tablet will take a backseat to a new thing and take longer.
• The Axon 7 should get the update, but not very soon. ZTE struggles to meet their aspirations in the update department, but at leats they have them.
• Sony will continue have beta builds available for some of their recent models. They will be pretty decent after a few tweaks. But it will take forever to see a final version drop.
• Xiaomi will focus on new models running Android 7.0 and take six to eight months to update any existing phones.
• Pokemon Go will be updated to take advantage of Android 7.0’s battery and data saving features. Bam. It had to be done.

Finally, one thing is certain when talking about all of this — there will be bugs. No matter how long it takes or how much testing is done, there will be bugs. Some of us will enjoy finding fixes for them (everything is broken on some level to people like us) while others will be unhappy and vocal about the issues. Like every year on every platform, it’s going to be a fun ride.

Android Nougat

Android N (currently in Developer Preview status) is now Android Nougat! It’s the 12th nicknamed version of Android and will be released to the public in the fall of 2016. Here’s everything you need to know so far!

• What’s new in Android Nougat
• All Android Nougat news
• Should you use the Android N Dev Preview?
• About the Android Beta Program
• Join the Discussion

LG’s V20 could be another modular phone

It looks like LG’s not done with modular phones — even after the shaky reception to the G5 — as revealed by new render leak.

LG may be set to continue its modular experiment if freshly leaked renders of the upcoming V20 are any indicator. The CAD renders of the phone, given by Steve Hemmerstoffer (a.k.a @onleaks) to Android Authority show a design that’s largely a mash-up of G5 and V10 elements.

A bigger, boxier G5 with a secondary ticker display.

If the renders are accurate — and Hemmerstoffer has a decent track record here — then we’re looking at a more angular handset than the G5, but with a similar dual-lens camera setup around the back, a larger display (estimated around the 5.6 to 5.7-inch mark) and secondary ticker display, along with a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner. But the real surprise? It’s looking increasingly likely that the V20 will be LG’s second modular phone.

The renders show a G5-style release switch on the bottom right side of the phone, and what appears to be a clean join between the bottom section of the phone and the body. It sure looks like we’re in for another LG phone with swappable modules.

MORE: Imagining a phablet-class LG V20

A modular V20 may seem a surprise after the decidedly lackluster performance of the G5, but then again the V20 would’ve been far along in development by the time sales of that phone began. Regardless, we can probably all agree that LG needs some more compelling modular options if it’s to compete with Samsung’s almighty Note 7.

Interestingly, the renders only appear to show one front-facing selfie camera, as opposed to the duo of lenses on the V10. The phone is also purported to be exactly as thick as the G5, measuring 7.7mm through, except for the 8.8mm-thick camera bump. All things being equal, that should mean we’ll get a bigger battery than the 3,000mAh capacity shared by the G5 and V10, but other specs remain unclear.

The LG V20, recently announced as the first phone running Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box, will be officially unveiled at an event in San Francisco on Sept. 6.

MORE: Let’s talk about the LG V20 being the first phone with Nougat

No Man’s Sky preview: 10 hours in and it’s fiercely good fun

No Man’s Sky needs no introduction: it’s one of the 2016’s most-hyped games, thanks to a scale and ambition which is possibly unmatched in the history of videogames. For this space-age epic boasts a game-world that consists of more than 18 quintillion planets. Yes, you read that right.

It also boasts a back-story that epitomises the very best of British indie development – tiny team conceives something which is stunningly original, inducing Sony to put its considerable resources behind – and an eye-popping art-style that references 1960s and 70s pulp-sci-fi book covers.

But beyond its undoubted technological achievements, what is it like as a game, and is it any good? We’re 10 hours of fun in…

No Man’s Sky review: Never-ending play?

Annoyingly, right now we can’t answer exactly how good No Man’s Sky is with any degree of definitiveness. This game is the latest victim of a disease which has taken hold of the games industry this year: having not been allowed a single second of play time during its development period, we finally received review code at roughly 2pm on Monday August 8 – the day before No Man’s Sky hit the shops in the UK.

Having foregone sleep for your edification, though, we can at least present our first impressions. A full review will follow when we’ve had the time to assess every aspect of the game (and especially the robustness of its servers, a topic which has generated some early unease). Well, almost every – we’ll never see every planet, because nobody will, not even the game’s developers.

First impressions, at least, are good – very, very good. One aspect of No Man’s Sky which remained completely unseen, no matter how many gorgeous-looking “sizzle” videos Sony used it to make, was a fairly major one: its gameplay.

Happily, it turns out that it actually does have gameplay beyond mere exploration, which is very enjoyable and massively addictive.

No Man’s Sky review: What sort of game is it?

No Man’s Sky puts all its players in an identical starting position: on a planet on the fringes of the galaxy, which nobody apart from you has ever visited.

You have a spaceship, but it has obviously crashed and is non-functional, so your first task is to get it going again. You do that by mining elemental resources (carbon, plutonium, iron and the like), which are acquired by blasting rock outcrops and vegetation with your multi-tool, a laser which also doubles as gun.

Hand-holding is kept to a minimum, although you have a bit of guidance from a mysterious red orb with connection to the Atlas, an alien race which, so the game hints, was instrumental in bringing civilisation to the galaxy. You also find jettisoned pods containing resources and useful items that can be used for crafting.

At first, it’s all about resource-gathering, exploration and crafting, and those remain the pillars of No Man’s Sky’s gameplay throughout: but there’s an awful lot more to it than that.

You soon discover that you can scan plants and animals (as long as you have the scanner element of your multi-tool running), for which you’re rewarded with in-game currency. As you are for uploading planets you’ve discovered and even waypoints on those planets to the server (everyone who plays No Man’s Sky will be traversing a single instance of the same game).

In practice, because everyone starts at a unique point, and because of the insane number of planets involved (according to developer Hello Games, if you visited every planet for a second, it would take you 565 billion years to get to all of them), every planet you chance upon is previously unknown.

No Man’s Sky review: Early stages

In the game’s early stages, one aspect swiftly generates mild annoyance: the inventory system.

Your multi-tool and your spaceship have defined numbers of inventory slots, and you can move items between the two easily, but until you discover which elements are the most useful in which situations (zinc and platinum, for example, are handy for fuelling your life-support and anti-radiation systems, while plutonium is required for ship-related crafting), you soon fill those slots and have to decide what to drop and what to keep.

The situation is alleviated when you begin to acquire better multi-tools and spaceships, and you soon crave the relief of finding traders who will convert your unwanted junk into hard cash. So what initially feels like a pain turns out to be a subtle way of introducing you to the full depth of a game. At every turn, No Man’s Sky exhibits clever touches.

No Man’s Sky review: What’s it like to play?

Once you fix your spaceship’s engine, the fun really starts. It’s pretty easy to fly: there’s one control for take-off, and then you can accelerate and brake with buttons using the basic impulse drive; landing is automatic and involves a single button-press.

To exit a planet and head into space, just point your spaceship’s nose straight upwards and hit the gas. You can also trigger a pulse-jump, which sees you travelling super-fast, with Star Trek warp drive-style visuals to match (which can be triggered in space or within planets’ atmospheres).

In the initial stages of the game, you’re given a few highlighted destinations, the first of which is a space-station. There you meet your first alien (in our case, a member of the Vek species – your experience will be different), with whom you can trade, and you start picking up transmissions from places worth investigating, as well as blueprints for new technology – perhaps the most important of which is a hyper drive.

Now your ship is at least able to explore the local solar system, you can get down to the serious business of seeing what planets have to offer, and there’s plenty to do.

Even without small hints about areas you might want to check – which the game gives you frequently – cruising about above the surface of planets bears fruit, as you discover structures which, depending on their nature, yield different things. There are planetary outposts of various types – manufacturing facilities, for example, give you handy blueprints for crafting things like spaceship parts. To get those, you often have to solve simple logic-puzzles.

No Man’s Sky review: Defining your own story

There are ancient ruins which begin to add a bit of narrative thrust: apart from teaching you words from the languages of the local alien race, they give you visions of the Atlas, which fuel your vague, nagging drive to head towards the centre of the galaxy to find out more about the mysterious alien race.

Most buildings you locate give you multi-tool technology (far more than can be equipped at any time), and aliens you meet are great for giving you improved multi-tools – as long as you give them some raw materials by way of a gift.

The next big milestone is discovering how to make and building a hyper-drive for your spaceship. This allows you to make big sub-space leaps, along a defined path (although you can also target random planets), as you start your journey towards the centre of the galaxy. Now, truly, the galaxy is yours to explore – particularly when you work out how to craft the hyper-drive fuel from scratch, which involves turning raw materials into different objects and then, cleverly, combining those.

You’ll see echoes from fine games of the past in No Man’s Sky. Think of Mass Effect in the resource-gathering, multi-user dungeons in the text-based interaction with aliens and ancient ruins being the most obvious.

There’s a Zen-like quality to its gameplay (enhanced by great ambient music), and for anyone who enjoys exploration, it’s the stuff of dreams. It’s also an almighty universe which, in the manner of the best games, sucks time into its maw. Look at your watch after a pleasant period of bumbling around and you’ll find you’ve been playing for hours.

No Man’s Sky review: Unanswered questions

But many questions remain, which we’ll answer in the fullness of time.

For example, we haven’t yet encountered any human players: what will happen when we do?

We know that as you proceed towards the centre of the galaxy, you must upgrade your ship, and are more likely to encounter hostility (your ship and multi-tool have weapons, which rarely have to be used in your initial forays).

Whether any sort of overt storyline, rather than one which is airily hinted at, will emerge also remains to be seen.

And the effect of hordes of players logging onto servers is also unknown. Although, at first, your only real contact with the game’s online side involves uploading your discoveries – be they planets, flora or fauna.

First Impressions

After our limited initial amount of time with the game, we are well and truly hooked. Even just a couple of hours with No Man’s Sky it becomes obvious that it is a major triumph – as long as you don’t see constant, full-on action as a gaming pre-requisite.

It’s indisputably original, and really makes you feel like a space-pioneer, exploring vast expanses of space which, while often inhospitable are never less than thoroughly inviting. It’s a game you can lose yourself in, and certainly achieves its aim of generating a state of constant wonderment.

Quite why Sony and Hello Games didn’t have the confidence to show No Man’s Sky to anyone before launch is inexplicable. Watch this space and, when we’ve explored it more fully over a number of weeks, we’ll be able to tell you just how good it is and whether it’s a true contender for game of the year.

ICYMI: Robot tattoo artist and healing coral reefs

Today on In Case You Missed It: Scientists were able to program soft materials to shift their shape on digital command, which is only a precursor to our biggest tech news of this episode: That an industrial robot normally used to put together cars was repurposed to delicately give tattoos to human beings. Considering the robotic arm is large and heavy enough to lift car doors easily, we’d like to invite you all to give this tattoo artist a try first, please.

A team from Mote Marine Laboratory found that when you break coral down into microfragments it will regrow at 25 to 40 times the normal rate, which may help revitalize reefs in decayed areas. Considering only jellyfish are thriving in this era of global climate change, we’ll take the coral news as a win.

And finally some Zurich engineers crafted a bed that can rock people to sleep. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.

Starbucks starts selling Lyft gift cards next week

Lyft is teaming up with Starbucks to offer special $20 Lyft gift cards at participating stores across the nation. Starting next week, when you head into the coffee shop for a quick caffeine fix, you’ll also be able to pick up the gift cards for friends and family. With each gift card you purchase for someone else, you’ll get a kickback of a $5 Starbucks gift card as well.

The promotion is more than a little symbiotic, with Lyft passengers being offered the opportunity to rack up Starbucks Rewards Stars for choosing Lyft rides. In a first for the brand’s partnership, Lyft passengers who sign up for Lyft and link Starbucks accounts will receive 125 Stars to start with. That’s enough to redeem for a free cup of coffee. Beyond that, anyone who links their Starbucks Rewards and Lyft accounts together will get 5 Stars to add to their total each time they take a Lyft ride on Monday through Friday between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m. It’ll take a while to rack up points for a free cup of coffee, but hey…it’s something.

If nothing else, the promotion should make it a lot easier for curious potential Lyft customers to get in rides, especially if there are tangible gift cards to purchase, and if you’re already using Lyft to get from point A to point B in the mornings making Starbucks runs anyway, this could be a very good thing for consumers who dabble with both companies.

Source: Lyft

NASA built an HDR camera to film rocket tests

We enjoy the hell out of static rockets tests, but NASA doesn’t do them for the lulz — they’re the crucial last step before a new booster launches. To get better data, the space agency developed a new HDR camera that showed what’s going on when the gigantic Space Launch System (SLS) rocket booster fires. Called the “High Dynamic Range Stereo X” (HiDyRS-X), it captured fine detail in the plume, which was “several orders of magnitude” brighter than what researchers had tested before.

HDR images are formed by combining multiple exposures, which are often taken one at a time or using multiple cameras. However, the NASA team, made up of young engineers from NASA’s Early Career Initiative (ECI), elected to use a single camera without image sequencing. By fitting it with custom chips and pixels, it can capture multiple images with varying exposures all at the same time. That allows it to compensate for the extremely bright plume, while remaining small enough to easily install on a rocket test stand.

After trying out the camera with smaller rocket motors, the team captured a full-scale test of NASA’s enormous SLS booster in Utah. Built by Orbital ATK, the rocket is the most powerful in the world, and the test was the last one scheduled before launch. The team had a tense moment during filming when they had to quickly override a malfunctioning automatic timer, and the end of the test was cut off when the powerful vibrations disconnected the power source.

The final result (above) was worth it, though, as the camera captured details never seen before in such a large test. “I was able to clearly see the exhaust plume, nozzle and the nozzle fabric go through its gimbaling patterns, which is an expected condition, but usually unobservable in slow motion or normal playback rates,” said NASA structural dynamist Howard Conyers. NASA will now build a second prototype with more advanced HDR and better manufacturing, thanks to the lessons it learned.

Via: PopSci

Source: NASA