Andre Lotterer delivered home the #1 Audi R18 e-tron hybrid to a famous and historic victory in the 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours as the German manufacturer became the first in history to win the French race using energy-harvesting technology and four-wheel drive.

It was the second successive victory for the #1 crew of Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler, and in the last hour it was a case of … Read More → "Le Mans 24 Hours final hour: #1 Audi crew wraps up victory"

If you’ve hung around mathematicians for a while, then you know there’s a fine line between the MATHEMATICAL GENIUS, a groundbreaking leader with breathtaking vision and imagination, and a homeless dude with a bunch of mimeographed papers and bladder control issues.  For example, in grad school, I got the pleasure of meeting the following two individuals:

1)  Chubby guy who randomly appeared in lectures, classes, and seminars, who pushed around a small shopping cart full of papers and books, and asked embarassing rambling … Read More → "Erdos-Bacon-Sabbath numbers: the people at the center of the universe"

The life and achievements of Alan Turing – the mathematician, codebreaker, computer pioneer, artificial intelligence theoretician, and gay/cultural icon – are being celebrated to mark what would have been his 100th birthday on 23 June.

To mark the occasion the BBC has commissioned a series of essays to run across the week, starting with this overview of Turing’s legacy by Vint Cerf.
via BBC

Read More → "Alan Turing: why the tech world’s hero should be a household name"

Audi has taken pole position for the Le Man 24 Hour race with its new R18 e-tron quattro, with André Lotterer beating last year’s best time by nearly two seconds. Audi qualified second and sixth with the Audi R18 ultra and first and fourth with the two R18 e-tron quattros. Toyota’s TS030 hybrids managed third and fifth to set up an interesting battle of with hybrids filling four … Read More → "Audi hybrid takes pole for Le Mans 24 hour"

… Read More → "How a hard drive works in slow motion"

Tony Nicklinson is completely paralyzed. Due to a stroke, Tony is unable to move any part of his body except for his eyes. While he retains all his intelligence and powers of reasoning, he’s been cut off from all conventional means of communication with the world. He finds the condition unbearable enough that he’s actively engaged in a legal battle, attempting tosecure the right to end his own life. Oh, and also he’s on Twitter; he tweets with his eyes.

Tony is the subject  of an upcoming special by … Read More → "Paralyzed man fighting to be euthanized uses his eyes to tweet"

An original Apple 1 computer motherboard sold this morning at Sotheby’s for $374,500. The auction house originally estimated the item would sell for $120,000 to $180,000.

Filed under “Fine Books and Manuscripts,” the motherboard is operational and is marked “Apple Computer 1” and dated 1976.

“It is thought that fewer than 50 Apple 1 Computers survive, with only [six] known to be in working condition,” Sotheby’s reports in … Read More → "Original Apple 1 computer motherboard sells for $374,500"

Last year, a mysterious UFO-shaped 60-foot disc was discovered in the bottom of the Baltic sea by a Swedish ocean exploration team using sonar. Now, that same team has managed to get near it and take photographs. According to diver Stefan Hogeborn, it’s unlike anything they’ve ever seen:

During my 20-year diving career, including 6000 dives, I have never seen anything like this. Normally stones don’t burn. … Read More → "Photos of mysterious UFO-shaped object sunk In Baltic Sea"

For the past two months, one of my favorite reads has been Never Seconds, a blog started by 9-year-old Martha Payne of western Scotland to document the unappealing, non-nutritious lunches she was being served in her public primary school. Payne, whose mother is a doctor and father has a small farming property, started blogging in early May and went viral in days. She had a million viewers within a few weeks and 2 million this morning; … Read More → "9-year-old school lunch blogger silenced by politicians"

The name BMW usually conjures up images of fast cars driven by hipsters and powerful motorcycles, but lately they’ve been showing us their greener side. The latest concept in this push is the i Pedelec, a folding electric bike for city commuters.

The i Pedalec is designed to be a companion to the i3 concept car we saw last year, with charging ports and space for two i … Read More → "BMW’s folding electric bike for city commuters"