Spanning 222 years of history, the grandsons of the 10th President of the USA, John Tyler, are still living among us today!
Nuclear Aircraft Carrier Turned into Parking Lot
The USS Ronald Reagan carries sailors vehicles as it relocates to new port in Washington for repairs and upgrades.
Photo courtesy of Official U.S. Navy Imagery
Ringtone halts NY Philharmonic performance - Yahoo! News
The loud ringing mobile phone was enough to get conductor Alan Gilbert to halt the New York Philharmonic Orchestra’s performance of Gustav Mahler’s Ninth Symphony. Gilbert turned several times to express his displeasure to the patron, to no avail. So, he halted the performance and would not continue until the offending noise was stopped.
(Via Yahoo News (AP).)
Swann’s new RC camera-choppers make stalking easy and fun — Engadget: “”
Swann is releasing several new models of RC helicopters controlled by your Apple iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. The helicopters have a range of 110 feet and can fly for about eight minutes on a single charge. The aircraft are equipped with SkyEye cameras that let you shoot still or video images. Some models include a microSD slot to expand your storage to 32GB. Look for them at your local electronic’s retailers soon.(Via Engadget.)
NASA Seeks Citizen Scientists With iPhones To Help Track Meteors | Cult of Mac
NASA Seeks Citizen Scientists With iPhones To Help Track Meteors | Cult of Mac: “”
According to this post on Cult of Mac, NASA has released an app that allows ordinary citizens to report events such as meteor sightings. Its a great idea and an opportunity for true beleaguered agency to create an international monitoring system for very little money. The space agency has even created a how-to video and posted it on YouTube.(Via Cult of Mac.)
Ancient discovery puts world’s scientific eyes on Kangaroo Island
Ancient discovery puts world’s scientific eyes on Kangaroo Island :
ABC Adelaide - Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports that a 515 million year old fossilised compound eye has been discovered in rocks from an archaeology dig on Kangaroo Island. Archeologists are calling it one of the greatest fossils finds in modern history.”
Believed to come from the Cambrian era, the fossil is from 540 to 510 million years ago, when the ‘first real explosion of life’ evolved. The fossil is the first of its kind from the Cambrian period to be discovered in the world. With over 3000 lenses lined up around the larger ones, it is expected that the creature it belonged to could see in near-dark conditions. “This is a creature which probably had quite good vision for a marine creature.”
(Via ABC Adelaide.)
World’s first ‘printed’ plane snaps together and flies
World’s first ‘printed’ plane snaps together and flies “Apparently when it comes to 3D printing, the sky is no longer the limit.” Crave is reporting on a complete flying aircraft printed with a 3D printer and snapped together in minutes with no tools or fasteners. The plane reportedly has a top speed of 100 MPH and a wingspan of nearly 7 feet. The plane, known as The SULSA (Southampton University Laser Sintered Aircraft), is an unmanned air vehicle.
The aircraft has an electric engine (not printed) and is nearly silent when it is in cruise mode. This opens up all sorts of new possibilities for surveillance and wartime aerial reconnaissance. Units only need to have a printer and raw materials to create different aircraft most appropriate to the mission and current environment.The project, led by Professors Andy Keane and Jim Scanlan from Southamptopn University’s Computational Engineering and Design Research group, is part of the EPSRC-funded DECODE project, which is employing the use of leading edge manufacturing techniques, such as laser sintering, to demonstrate their use in the design of UAVs. The University has been at the forefront of UAV development since the early 1990s, when work began on the Autosub programme at its waterfront campus at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton. A battery powered submarine travelled under sea ice in more than 300 voyages to map the North Sea, and assess herring stocks.
(Via Crave.)
World leaders, South Sudanese celebrate world’s newest nation - CNN.com
Today ,we witness the birth of a new nation. South Sudan is officially an independent country after a referendum overwhelmingly saw its citizens opt to separate. This effective cuts Sudan, Africa’s largest country, in half. Sudan endured years of civil war between the Arab Musim government based in the north and Christians and animists in the South.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was amongst the international dignitaries present for the ceremonies. He will also discuss South Sudan’s membership in the United Nations.
This is only the first step for the fledgling nation as there is little infrastructure or formal government in place. There still remains negotiations over where the border will actually be drawn and the status of its citizens, including who will vote.
(Via World leaders, South Sudanese celebrate world’s newest nation CNN)
In Indonesia, a macaque monkey helped himself to a nature photographer’s camera, then started snapping photos of himself. Award winning photojournalist, David Slater, was in a small national park on the island of Sulawesi when the event occurred. ”I teamed up with a local guide because I knew about the apes and wanted to photograph them.”, David added.
He and his guide were with the monkeys for about three days. They were accepting of his company and expressed interest in the things he was carrying. It is assumed that the culprit became enamored with his own reflection in the camera lens. Slater later added that most of the hundreds of photographs were not in focus, but a very few were usable.
The crested black macaque is an endangered species. It not only suffers from human encroachment and deforestation, but is hunted as bush meat since monkey is considered a delicacy and holiday staple amongst the local non-muslim population.
For Only the Second Time in History, Mankind Has Edadicated a Disease
An article in the Health section of the NY Times reports on another disease that humankind has made extinct. Rinderpest, an animal plague, has been a scourge of livestock for thousands of years. It is a virulant relative of the measles and had a mortality rate amongst infected herds of 95 percent.
Dr. Juan Lubroth, chief veterinary officer at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations says that the role of veterinarians in protecting human society is severely underrated.
The pronouncement was made on June 26 in Rome, Italy, where the FAO is headquartered.
(Via NY Times.)
