Electric car maker Tesla has scored a $10 million grant from the California Energy Commission to help it make its next-generation electric SUV/minivan the Model X, Forbes reports. The article says that Tesla will use the grant to hire another 700 workers in 2014, and Tesla will match the grant with $50 million of its own funds.
via GigaOM</ … Read More → "Tesla scores $10M grant from CA for Model X"
Two American scientists won the 2012Nobel Prize for chemistry on Wednesday for research into how cells respond to external stimuli that is helping to develop better drugs to fight diseases such as diabetes, cancer and depression.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the 8 million crown ($1.2 million) prize went to Robert Lefkowitz, 69, and Brian … Read More → "Two American scientists won the 2012 Nobel Prize for chemistry"
It’s likely that no person on this planet likes the high-pitched whine and buzzing of a dentist’s drill as it roots around in your mouth. In fact, just thinking about it makes me cringe. Fortunately, a clever dentist realized the anxiety the sound caused, and hacked his own drill to play tunes from an MP3 player. That’s a concept I can work with.
Dr. Dhanni Gustiana from Java, Indonesia noticed the fear in his patients, many of whom are children, and did a little research. It turns out it’s not the … Read More → "Coolest dentist ever ditches scary buzz of his drill for MP3s"
An intriguing Auto Week story last week caught my attention involving a software problem in the new “GT-86” sports coupe that Toyota and Subaru jointly developed. According to the story, owners of the new 2013 Toyota Scion FR-S and its twin the Subaru BRZ have been complaining about rough idling and stalling conditions affecting their new cars. Both Toyota and Subaru say that the problems are not related to a mechanical defect but instead are related to a software “bug” related to the engine control unit (ECU).
< … Read More → "Toyota and Subaru offer conflicting software fix advice"
It was set to be a historic moment: daredevil Felix Baumgartner was ready to plunge from the edge of the stratosphere down to earth–a record-setting 120,000 feet, and at speeds that are likely to eclipse the sound barrier. It’s BASE jumping so extreme that it almost counts as space exploration. But the historic jump, which was to take place today, was delayed due to wind.
In addition to being inherently dramatic and heart-pounding, Baumgartner’s mission (Red Bull is footing the bill) also entails a bunch of cool technology. Take, for instance, … Read More → "The technology behind the Red Bull Stratos stunt dive"
One might think that NASA would be excited to examine the first scoop of soil that they’ve retrieved using the Curiosity rover that spectacularly landed itself on Mars not that long ago. Instead, NASA’s next focus appears to be on the partially-visible shiny object in the foreground of the above image. Even NASA themselves admit that it might just be a bit of rover hardware, but they’re going to … Read More → "NASA’s Curiosity rover takes first scoop of soil, fixates on shiny thing instead"
Part of the reason we love seeing Rube Goldberg setups in action is that they offer a simple metaphor for the genius of chain reactions within everyday gadgets. But what happens when you add the human body to the equation? A German acrobat has provided the answer.
Parkour master Jason Paul recruited a group of friends and created one of the largest, most dangerous Rube Goldberg mechanisms ever, relying on a combination of wheels, pulleys, harnesses, human bodies, zip lines, massive storage containers and even a tub of water.
via Read More → "Giant Rube Goldberg machine mixes in human daredevils"
… Read More → "FBI questions man for taking a photo of a cloud"“You’re not a threat and you are doing a public service but just be careful next time,” FBI Agent David Pileggi to Michael Galindo, who took a photo of a thundercloud over an oil refinery near Houston, TX.
via Boing Boing
We could say NASA has just discovered a never-before-seen black hole, but it might also be true to say a new black hole just threw up signal flares and shouted at us to discover it.
A rare X-ray nova–a release of X-ray energy–was first caught by NASA’s Swift telescope in September. Scientists focused in on it and unraveled a story: … Read More → "New black hole discovered"
