Month: October 2016

Eric Wittler

Seventeen years ago, at Black Rock Desert in Nevada, a plucky bunch from the UK, led by Richard Noble and RAF Wing Commander Andy Green, set a new land speed record. Noble and his band broke the sound barrier in the process. This was Noble's second land speed record; he was the current record holder at the time, having claimed it in 1982 with Thrust 2.

Regular readers will know that Noble and Green are trying to smash their existing record by aiming for 1,000 mph with Bloodhound SSC. But not everyone is content to let them set a new record unopposed. In fact, Ed Shadle thinks it's his patriotic duty to reclaim the crown for the USA. He hopes to get there with the help of one of the most iconic planes ever to grace the skies: a Lockheed F-104 Starfighter.

Enlarge (credit: NFL)

In 2014, Microsoft signed a $400 million deal with the NFL to ensure that its Surface tablets would become "the official tablet of the NFL." Microsoft wanted coaches and players to use its systems from the sidelines.

That promotion hasn't been entirely successful. Casters routinely refer to the devices as "iPads," and a number of complaints surfaced about the tablets not working correctly. Those complaints have driven at least one coach, the Patriots' Bill Belichick, to abandon the technology entirely.

A couple of weeks ago, Belichick slammed one of the tablets in frustration. In a press conference today, he delivered a five-minute diatribe bemoaning the technological failures that led the Pats to abandon the Surfaces entirely.

Enlarge (credit: Getty | Bloomberg)

According to political pundits, this Presidential election has turned “historical.” And by historical, they likely mean exceptionally dismal and noxious. So no one should be surprised that the election is stressing people out.

According to an annual poll on the stress levels of the country, the American Psychological Association reports that 52 percent of adults are “somewhat” or “very” stressed by the battle for the Oval Office. That mental anguish is felt about equally across party lines, with 59 percent of Republicans and 55 percent of Democrats registering as stressed. Women and men are also equally stressed, at 52 and 51 percent, respectively.

Data from the online poll, conducted between August 5 and August 31, 2016, offer a few hints at the factors that are ratcheting up election anxiety. The poll includes data from 3,511 US adults and is weighted to reflect national demographics. The APA found that social media usage boosted election stress. Of those who use social media, 54 percent report being stressed by the campaigns, while, among those who abstain from such online chatter, only 45 percent fret over the political fray.

Amazon is reportedly considering offering home Internet service in Europe. However, the company would probably not do so in the United States because US law doesn't guarantee wholesale access to existing networks.

Amazon hasn't commented publicly on the topic, which was raised today in a report by The Information (subscription required). The technology news site quotes "a person briefed on the discussion" as saying that Amazon is considering whether to offer Internet service over the networks of existing providers. Since Amazon reportedly doesn't want to build its own network, it would have to purchase wholesale access, which isn't available everywhere.

"In parts of Europe, such as Britain, broadband providers like British Telecom are required to offer wholesale access to their network to rivals," The Information noted. "A US offering would be tougher to pull off as US regulators don’t require cable operators to open up their networks to rivals."

It could be the ultimate archaeological discovery: a previously unknown chamber lurking beneath the stones of the Great Pyramid at Giza in Egypt. Now, a team using a cutting edge imaging technique called muography has picked up signals indicating a hidden corridor behind the famous chevron blocks on the pyramid's north face.

Muography can detect voids or empty spaces inside thick layers of earth or stone, and it is often used to plumb the depths of volcanoes. Muons are cosmic particles that hit the Earth at precisely 10,000 per m² per minute, though they can be absorbed or deflected by dense material. To find voids in rock, researchers set up muon-detecting plates inside a corridor in the pyramid, and they measured the amount of muons that hit over a period of 67 days. By analyzing absorption patterns in the muons that hit the plates, the researchers were able to create a 3D model showing where empty spaces might be in the structure.

Scan Pyramids Mission

Enlarge (credit: Ron Amadeo)

Flying with one of Samsung's recalled Galaxy Note 7s is now illegal in the US. To make the exchange process easier for people who haven't had time to send their Note 7 back (or who hoped they could sneak theirs past the gate), Samsung is setting up booths ahead of security checkpoints in busy airports to swap out phones. This way, travelers won't have their Note 7 confiscated by airports or airlines. (Much of our kiosk information comes from a Bloomberg report.)

Samsung's official site only lists Australian airports as of this writing, but ABC News has also spotted a kiosk in San Francisco International Airport. The Korean company says it is trying to bring kiosks to other busy airports across the US. Workers at the kiosk will apparently help users with data transfer to minimize the inconvenience, but, of course, they can't replace the 7's unique hardware features.

If you bought the Note 7, your best move is still to return the phone where you bought it and settle for one of the other models we've recommended, especially since Samsung is giving out $25 credits on top of a full refund if you take your Note 7 back and switch to another brand. If you decide to switch to another Samsung phone like last year's Galaxy Note 5 or the Galaxy S7, that credit increases to $100.