Month: April 2022

“Oreology” investigates mystery of why Oreo creme filling usually sticks to one side

MIT team also designed 3D-printed DIY rheometer for at-home or classroom experiments.

If you have to test the mechanics of an Oreo, what better fixture is there than an oreometer?

Everyone has their preferred method for snacking on tasty Oreo cookies: twisting the two halves apart to eat the creme filling first, perhaps, before dunking the chocolate wafers in a glass of milk. But you may have noticed that the creme typically sticks to only one chocolate wafer. MIT scientists tried to get to the bottom of why this is so often the case in a paper published in the journal Physics of Fluids. The authors playfully invoked a new scientific subfield they dubbed "oreology" ("Oreo" after the classic Nabisco cookie, "logy" from the Greek for "flow study," rheo logia).

Co-author Crystal Owens, a graduate student at MIT, doesn't study foods in particular; her primary focus is on 3D printing with complex fluid inks. "But great examples of complex fluids are all around us—many foods, sauces, condiments, yogurt, ice cream, and other products," she told Ars. "So it's natural and convenient to find foods to test our theories." Early on in her Phd thesis research, Owens designed a novel rheology tool and tested it on hair gel and mayonnaise to make sure it would work with everyday materials.

There is rich scientific literature on what Owens calls "kitchen relevant flows." For example, scientists have studied the structure of cheese; investigated the composition and flow of gluten-free batter and breads; discovered why strands of honey can get so long and thin as they drip without actually breaking; figured out a way to get cocoa butter to distribute more evenly in chocolate to enhance the perceived texture; studied why Brazil nuts rise to the top of a can of mixed nuts (aka the "Brazil nut effect"); and figured out how to "tune" the flow of Swiss cheese fondue by adding cornflour or wine.

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Mele Quieter3Q pocket-sized fanless PC has an Intel Celeron N5105 Jasper Lake processor

The Mele Quieter3Q is a small, fanless computer that measures just 5.2″ x 3.2″ x 0.7″ making it about the size of a (very thick) smartphone. But it’s a full-fledged desktop PC with full-sized HDMI, Ethernet, and USB ports and a 10-watt Intel Celeron N5105 quad-core processor and support for running Windows or Linux. And […]

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The Mele Quieter3Q is a small, fanless computer that measures just 5.2″ x 3.2″ x 0.7″ making it about the size of a (very thick) smartphone. But it’s a full-fledged desktop PC with full-sized HDMI, Ethernet, and USB ports and a 10-watt Intel Celeron N5105 quad-core processor and support for running Windows or Linux.

And if the little computer looks familiar, that’s because it’s nearly identical to last year’s Mele Quieter2. The biggest difference is that this year’s model has a processor based on Intel’s Jasper Lake architecture rather than the older, lower-performance Gemini Lake Refresh architecture.

Mele hasn’t officially introduced the new model yet, and it’s not listed in the company’s AliExpress Store), two listings for the computer recently showed up at Amazon:

I don’t see pricing for these models at the moment, but FanlessTech reports that the 128GB version is expected to sell for $280, while the 256GB version will be priced at $300.

Both versions feature two HDMI 2.0 ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, four USB 3.0 Type-A ports, a headset jack and a USB Type-C port (which appears to be used only for power).

The computer has eMMC storage and a microSD card reader, but there’s also an M.2 2280 slot under the hood that can be used to add PCIe NVMe storage. Wireless capabilities include WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2. And the little computer can be attached to the back of display with a VESA mount.

The Mele Quieter3Q comes with Windows 10 pre-installed, but Mele says it also supports Windows 11 or Linux.

Since the computer is passively cooled and has no moving parts, it shouldn’t generate any noise. But some users have expressed concerns about the previous-gen model’s performance, since it may generate more heat under heavy load than the chassis can effectively dissipate without a fan. With the new Quieter3Q featuring an identical design, it remains to be seen whether the move to a new processor is enough to alleviate the risks of overheating.

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Ukrainekrieg: SAP steigt ganz aus Russland aus

Nach einem Teilrückzug im März will SAP sein Geschäft in Russland nun ganz einstellen. Wann genau es soweit ist, bleibt vorerst unklar. (SAP, Russland)

Nach einem Teilrückzug im März will SAP sein Geschäft in Russland nun ganz einstellen. Wann genau es soweit ist, bleibt vorerst unklar. (SAP, Russland)

Volla Phone 22 runs Ubuntu Touch or a privacy-focused Android fork… or both (crowdfunding)

The Volla Phone 22 is a smartphone with a 6.3 inch FHD+ display, a MediaTek Helio G85 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. Unlike many modern phones, it also a user-replaceable battery, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a microSD card reader. But what really makes it stand out is the software. The phone, […]

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The Volla Phone 22 is a smartphone with a 6.3 inch FHD+ display, a MediaTek Helio G85 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. Unlike many modern phones, it also a user-replaceable battery, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a microSD card reader.

But what really makes it stand out is the software. The phone, which is up for pre-order through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, ships with a choice of the Android-based Volla OS or the Ubuntu Touch mobile Linux distribution. It also supports multi-boot functionality, allowing you to install more than one operating system and choose which to run at startup.

This is the third phone from Volla. It has a faster processor and twice as much storage as the original Volla Phone and Volla Phone X, both of which feature MediaTek Helio P23 processors and 64GB of storage.

The camera system has also been upgraded, and while the phone’s 4,500 mAh battery is a little smaller than the batteries used in the older models, the Volla Phone 22 is the first phone in the series with a user-replaceable battery. So you can swap out batteries if you need more run time or replace an aging battery with a new model to extend your phone’s life span in a few years.

While Volla works with the folks at UBPorts to ensure its phones are compatible with Ubuntu Touch, the company develops the Android-based Volla OS in-house. It’s based on Google’s Android Open Source Project code, but includes a custom launcher, user interface, and set of apps with an emphasis on privacy.

The Google Play Store is not included, as this is a phone aimed at folks who want to minimize tracking from big tech companies. Other Google apps and services like the Chrome web browser, Google Maps, Google Drive, and Gmail are also omitted. The upshot is that no user data is collected or stored by Volla, Google, or other companies unless you decide to install apps that track your data. Of course, that could make using the phone a little less convenient if you’ve come to rely on those apps, so the Volla Phone might not be the best choice for everyone.

Volla OS also has a built-in user-customizable firewall, an App Locker feature for disabling and hiding apps, and optional support for using the Hide.me VPN for anonymous internet usage. The source code for Volla OS is also available for anyone that wants to inspect the code.

The operating system also has a custom user interface including a Springboard that allows you to quickly launch frequently-used apps by pressing a red dot for a list, or by starting to type in a search box for automatic suggestions such as placing a phone call, sending a text message, or opening a web page. You can also create notes or calendar events from the Springboard or send an encrypted message with Signal.

In terms of hardware, here are some of the phone’s key specs:

Volla Phone 22 Specs
Display 6.3 inches
FHD+
410 ppi
Processor MediaTek Helio G85
2 x ARM Cortex-A75 @ 2 GHz
6 x ARM Cortex-A55 @ 1.8 GHz
Mali-G52 MC2 graphics
RAM 4GB
Storage 128GB
microSD card reader (up to 512GB)
Cameras 48MP (primary)
8MP (ultra wide angle)
16MP (front-facing)
Battery 4,500 mAh
User replaceable
Ports USB 2.0 Type-C
3.5mm audio jack
microSD card reader
2 x nano SIM card slots
Security Fingerprint sensor
Wireless 4G LTE
WiFi 5
Bluetooth 5.0
NFC
GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Galileo
Dimensions 157.5 x 75 x 10.4mm
Weight 210 grams
Price €378 + shipping (early bird crowdfunding)

Volla expects to begin shipping the phone in June, 2022 to backers of the Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. Prices start at €378 ($408) for early bird backers or €398 ($430) for folks who miss out on the early bird special. Note that shipping to the US will add €46 ($50) to the price though.

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Mercedes-Benz’s next EV is this 7-seater EQS SUV

A crowd-pleasing, American-made SUV follows Mercedes’ first two electric sedans.

The 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV is an all-electric three-row and will be built in Alabama.

Enlarge / The 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV is an all-electric three-row and will be built in Alabama. (credit: Mercedes-Benz)

The next all-electric Mercedes-Benz was revealed on Tuesday morning. It's called the EQS SUV, and the name says it all—after releasing two sedans, the company's latest electric vehicle will be a large SUV with up to seven seats.

The EQS SUV will come to the US in two powertrain configurations. The cheaper of the two will be the single-motor, rear-wheel-drive EQS 450+, which generates 355 hp (256 kW) and 419 lb-ft (568 Nm). The more powerful EQS SUV is the twin-motor, all-wheel-drive EQS 580 4MATIC—this one packs a combined 536 hp (400 kW) and 633 lb-ft (858 Nm) from its permanently excited synchronous motors.

The single-motor and twin-motor EQS SUVs use a battery pack of the same size, in this case, one with a useable 107.8 kWh. That should be sufficient for a WLTP range of more than 373 miles (600 km)—an EPA range estimate should follow as the EQS SUV gets closer to arriving in the US toward the end of 2022. Mercedes seems pretty sure of its battery, too; its warranty covers 10 years and 155,000 miles (250,000 km) rather than the industry-standard eight years or 100,000 miles (160,000 km).

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