800px-F-4N_cockpit_simulator_windshieldJam-packed airport traffic and crowded airports can be a giant time-suck for busy travelers. What if you don’t need an airport and you can land and take off from your own front yard? Get ready for a light jet that will transport you door-to-door: VTOL- a vertical take-off and landing plane. The aircraft could pick up passengers at their homes or hotels, and fly them more than 1,000 miles. It can hover like a helicopter and fly fast and high like a jet.

It’s not totally new as military planes have been taking off and landing vertically for decades. Now, a new era of hovering, commercial airplanes is dawning, according to Jeffrey Pino, vice chairman at Denver-based XTI Aircraft. He says ‘VTOL, true point-to-point travel, has got to be inevitable.’ More »

30. August 2015 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized

      

468px-Hurricane_Irene_Aug_24_2011_1810ZTropical Storm Erika is blamed for at least 20 deaths and dozens missing on the Caribbean island of Dominica. The storm weakened and is forecast to fall to a tropical depression Saturday. The high mountains of Hispaniola which are in storm’s path threaten its strength and a weaker Erika may reach Florida by Monday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center says. Friday morning, the governor of Florida, Rick Scott, declared a state of emergency ahead of Tropical Storm Erika and got the National Guard prepared for action. More »

346px-Keyless_entry_remote_(Chrysler)European computer scientists have revealed a massive flaw in keyless ignition technology used by more than 100 models of high-end vehicles from different companies. They say Volkswagen and other manufacturers sued the researchers for two years to keep them from revealing the security bug in the remote controls.

The flaw, that could help malicious hackers to unlock everything from a Kia to a Lamborghini, was discovered by Flavio D. Garcia, Baris Ege and Roel Verdult of the Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands. They presented their findings Wednesday at the Usenix Security Symposium in Washington, DC.

The researchers say the flaw More »

Luggage_awaiting_loading_at_airport_IMG_3140A new type of robotic vehicle could soon be carrying our packages and parcels to our doors, according to designers.

The Transwheel drone uses robotic arms to carry deliveries on single self-balancing wheel. Read more about Transwheel here.

 

23. August 2015 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized

      

16. August 2015 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized

      

Lose_weight_nowUzbekistan national carrier announced on its website Friday that the airline will be weighing its passengers along with their luggage before they step on the plane.

The passengers will be asked to proceed through a special ‘weighing machine’ placed at the departure gate zone in order to determine each traveler’s average weight along with their hand baggage. The procedure is part of ‘flight safety’ requirements introduced by the International Air Transport Association, the carrier said.

It appears the procedure is strictly for research purposes. The company said that the individual passengers’ weights would not be disclosed and ‘full confidentiality of results is guaranteed. Instead, the weighing machine will only categorize passengers by sex and into adult and child groups.

All aircrafts have total weight limits which cannot be exceeded for safety reasons. However, Uzbekistan Airways has not listed a weight limit for any individual passenger yet. The company doesn’t give any details about what action, if any, would be taken if the total weight of the passengers and their luggage exceeded the limit.

Uzbekistan national carrier is not the first to put passengers on the scale before boarding. In 2013, Samoa Air became the world’s first airline to charge passengers different fares based on their weight. During the procedure, the travelers are weighed their luggage at the departure gate and pay a fixed price per pound for their seat. Officials from the company claim that this helps manage the onboard weight effectively and enable to improve the flight cost-effectiveness.

Now if you could please step on the scale, we need to check your weight.

More »

799px-Tesla_Model_S_Indoors_trimmedYou have forgotten to plug in your Tesla after a long day of driving and the next morning you wake up to find out your battery is low or completely depleted. What about a robot which plugs itself in without any human assistance? You only have to stick the car in the garage and let the robot charger do the rest.

The California-based electric carmaker Tesla Motors has recently More »

09. August 2015 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized