STUFF: News, Technology, the cool and the plain weird

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Egypt's Oldest Pyramid Is Being Destroyed By The Company Hired To Fix It

Saqqara, in Egypt, is the oldest stone complex ever built by humans — and within it sits the oldest pyramid in Egypt. It’s a piece of irreplaceable history that’s been crumbling for 4600 years. But according to one local report, it’s currently being destroyed by the company hired to “restore” it.

In fact, the company hired by Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities may have even committed a crime in its restoration. According to the Egypt Independent, preservation laws require that any new construction be less than 5 per cent of the preserved structure. Instead, the company — which has reportedly never worked on a preservation project before! — constructed a number of new walls and structures that exceed the limit.

Now, that might not be such a huge deal. Buildings can be torn down. But according to activists speaking in the story, the new construction is actually contributing to the collapse of the pyramid, which is considered the oldest cut stone structure in the world.

You see, back in 1992, a major earthquake hit the region, and it nearly destroyed the pyramid. It sent “tons” of stone, broken free from the structure, down into the base, and created a “dome-shaped” void at its top, in the words of archaeologist Peter James, who says it was “liable to collapse at any time.”

At the time, James’ company installed an ingenious temporary balloon-style support called WaterWall. “The internally-reinforced PVC product can be inflated with air and then filled with water,” writes James. “It was this product that was used to support the inverted dome of stone.” The system worked well, and over time, restoration specialists planned to install steel rods to strengthen the pyramid permanently.

But funding ran out. And kept running out, it seems, as sociopolitical upheaval wracked Egypt. The company that was hired to take up the job has reportedly never restored an ancient structure before — in fact, it’s never completed a successful project at all. Speaking to Al-Masry Al-Youm and translated by the Egypt Independent, one advocate said the company is actually responsible for a collapse of one section of the structure already.

It’s a sad, and unfortunately very common throughout history, occurrence. But hopefully a structure that survived the past 4,600 years of history can weather this particular storm, too.

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Switzerland Could Be Vulnerable To An Alpine Lake Tsunami

A danger is lurking in the bucolic mountains of Switzerland: the alpine lake tsunami. Yes, it’s a real thing, and yes it has happened before — many times, according to unsettling new geological research.

Like a tsunami in the ocean, a lake tsunami is the result of an earthquake under the water. Rocks and sediments might shift, creating a huge wave that sloshes around in the enclosed lake. “The same source placed inside a lake can have a bigger impact than along the coast of an open ocean,” Hermann Fritz, a tsunami research, tells Nature.

Lake tsunamis have killed before, like at Lake Yanawayin in Peru in 1971, where 400 to 600 people died. And geologists are aware of the risks of lakes near faults, such as Lake Tahoe in California. But the alpine lakes of Switzerland were never singled out for tsunami risk until two years ago, when limn­ogeologist Katrina Kremer and her colleagues published an unsettling study about a tsunami that wiped out the area around Lake Geneva in the year 563.

As Nature reports, Kremer’s team has now studied lakebed sediment cores and identified a total of five likely tsunamis in Lake Geneva’s past 4000 years. It’s rare, but it’s still common enough to worry inhabits (and insurance companies). Other lakes in the region show evidence of tsunamis, too.

Nidwalden, a canton that borders Lake Lucerne, has commissioned geologists to study the landscape in and under the lake to predict tsunami scenarios. The assessment will guide future construction plans in the area. Humans have shown a stubborn persistence to keep living in seismically active zones, and if that’s the case, we might as well be prepared.

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Dyson's First Robo-Vac Has Tank-Treads And A 360-Degree Camera

There have been all kinds of gimmicks to help your robot vacuum clean every inch of your home without requiring you to steer it around. But Dyson, while late to the robo-vac party, might have unsurprisingly come up with the best one yet. Its Eye 360 includes an all-seeing 360 degree camera that knows where it’s been where it needs to go, and what obstacles it should avoid.

Assisted by a set of infra-red sensors, the 360-degree camera snaps 30 frames per second to create a detailed floor plan of an entire room at once. This not only allows the vacuum to plan the most efficient cleaning route to maximise its half-hour battery, it also lets the bot know its exact position at all times to within just a few millimeters so it won’t waste time going over the same area twice.

And since the whole point of a robot vacuum is to make cleaning as hands-off as possible for a homeowner, the 360 Eye employs a set of flexible tank treads to climb over smaller obstacles so you don’t have to make sure your floors are clean before your floors get cleaned. It also means the 360 Eye can easily transition between rooms with subtle lips, ledges, or steps used to transition between tile and carpeted floors.

Like most robot vacuums already on the market, Dyson’s 360 Eye can automatically return to its charging station before its battery is completely dead. But unlike other robo-vacs, the 360 Eye will work with a free accompanying iOS or Android app that allows users to remotely start cleaning cycles, or schedule a cleaning routine so that their home gets tidied while they’re away. After all, a robot vacuum can still be still as loud as a manual one.

On top of all the wonderful innovations Dyson has made to the robo-vac as we know it, the 360 Eye also features the company’s tried-and-tested vacuum technology. The unit features Dyson’s V2 digital motor, which is energy efficient and compact while still able to gobble up around 0.4 litres of dust and dirt before you need to empty its storage bin — which should be more than adequate for anything short of a construction site. And its spinning brush spans the entire width of the machine so that you’re not left with a thin edge of dirt around every wall and obstacle in your home when the robot claims it’s done cleaning.

Unfortunately it’s going to be a while before those of us in North America will be able to get our hands on the Dyson 360 Eye — and then get it on our dirty floors. The company is first launching it in Japan sometime in early 2015, with an international release to eventually follow. And pricing has yet to be revealed either, which could be another stumbling block, especially for those of us slobs who already can’t afford to pay a maid every week, much less a mini-tank that sucks up dust.

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Syria's 'Monuments Men' Are Trying To Save History Amidst ISIS Chaos

Roman ruins. Byzantine villages. Umayyad architecture. The relics of the Hittites, Assyrians, Arabs, Mongols, Mamelukes and Ottomans. Syria has some of the most remarkable cultural history in the world — and now, National Geographic reports that Syrians are using archaeological first aid to save it.

In a report from Andrew Curry today, we learn that a coalition of preservationists are helping Syrians obtain the knowledge and materials they need to protect the heritage sites that still remain untouched by looting and destruction. It’s a bit like the “Monuments Men“, a crack team of art historians and curators who traveled through Europe during World War II, saving priceless artwork and tracking looters, as Curry explains:

At a recent workshop held in Turkey, near the Syrian border, curators and restoration experts taught Syrians emergency conservation techniques, such as wrapping mosaics and ceramics in Tyvek, a tough, lightweight plastic used in construction, before burying or sandbagging them. The workshop participants left Turkey with supplies of Tyvek and other hard-to-come-by items, like museum-grade glue.

If it sounds like a last-ditch effort, that’s because to some extent, it is. The damage to Syria’s heritage sites is extensive and heartbreaking, ranging from looting museums to completely destroying the Great Mosque of Aleppo, a 12th century structure that was “reduced to a pile of rubble” during clashes between the Syrian army and rebels last year. It’s seen here, before and after the fighting:

Of course, the real tragedy is the human toll of the fighting — but historic and cultural monuments are an important part of national identity, and as Curry points out, these played no small economic role in Syria before the war began.

[MIKA27]

Happiness Is This Video Of A Dog Running Towards The Sea

Meet Walter, a happy labrador that enjoys a good run before diving in the refreshing waters of Siracusa — in gorgeous Sicily. His owner obviously knows that and he strapped a Go Pro on his back so we all can share Walter’s joy for life.

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Android Wear 2.0 May Launch As Soon As Next Month

Almost seven months after the platform’s launch in March, Android Wear may already be preparing for its first update, according to Android Police. And it could have some goodies you’ve been waiting for.

Citing an anonymous source, the site believes Google could be pushing out Android Wear 2.0 (official name pending) on or around October 15. Although unconfirmed, early speculation is that this update will get much needed GPS and Bluetooth headphone support as well as an easier way to develop custom watchfaces. It also comes conveniently around when we’re expecting a Moto 360 and G Watch R release, so maybe some optimisation for round watchfaces as well, though that’s purely speculation.

Android Police’s insider info corroborates an earlier report, published by CNET, that spoke with Android Wear Design Director David Singleton. Singleton mentioned that updates for Wear would be fast and furious with multiple being planned before the end of the year. The rumoured October 15th update might just be the biggest one among many.

Such a rigorous update schedule would only solidify Google’s wearable lead ahead of Apple, whose long-awaited iWatch may not ship until early 2015. By then, Android Wear could already be making solid progress on a third major update.

In its infancy, smartwatches are playing out much like smartphones. Tons of Android options and updates, one iWatch to rule them all, and… Microsoft nowhere in sight. I’m sure Google wouldn’t mind the repeat.

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Free, Offline Nokia Maps Are Coming To Android And iOS Soon

Before the year is out, you will have yet another alternative to Google and Apple Maps. Nokia says that it will soon release a free-of-charge maps app on Android and iOS. Why? Because the company thinks that your current options are, well, stale.

“Google Maps is a good solution for many — their maps work very well — but it has looked the same and done the same for a long time,” Nokia executive Sean Fernback told The Wall Street Journal.

To differentiate, Nokia’s maps app will allow you to fully download maps for offline use as well as search and route without an internet connection. You can currently do this in a limited way with Google Maps, while Apple Maps doesn’t have any offline capabilities at all.

Unlike Google, Nokia has no plans to make any money with this app by showing ads, for instance. Presumably, offering the service to consumers would generate more signals to fine-tune Nokia’s rather good location engine, which currently powers Nokia’s digital-mapping platform that companies like Amazon and FedEx pay licensing fees to use.

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Bose's Classic Noise-Cancelling Cans Just Got A Colourful Redesign

Bose’s noise-cancelling headphones are an iconic staple worn by balding dudes in business classes everywhere. Finally, the company is updating its classic QuietComfort 15 headphones and ditching that stale grey design for something a little more attractive.

According to Bose, the $US300 QuietComfort 25 headphones cancel more sound than before, and have improved active EQ too. The information is a little thin, but what really jumps out at you is the new look, which is sleeker and more modern. For $US400, you’ll be able to customise the look of the headphones with “a nearly limitless combination of colours”.

The QuietComfort 25s are available for pre-order today and will ship in November.We’ve always been fans of the Bose’s QuietComfort line for their flat sound and comfortable fit. Still, in a world full of flashy headphones, they have always seemed pretty drab. It’s nice to see Bose keeping up with the times, even if the new design remains pretty conservative.

[MIKA27]

This Waste Incineration Power Plant Glows Like It's On Fire

Power plants that burn garbage for energy are not places where you expect to find beauty. Usually utilitarian in design, they’re often relegated to the middle of some industrial wasteland. But Denmark, a leader in incinerating waste for energy, has taken the opposite tack, commissioning big, beautiful power plants designed by hotshot architects.

Back in 2008, Dutch architect Erick van Egeraat, who’s designed museums and embassies, won an international competition to design the waste incineration power plant in Roskilde, Denmark. And now, a whole slew of new images show what the completed power plant looks like.

The shape of the power plant, in which a spire wraps around a chimney, is meant to echo the steeple of the nearby cathedral. But the most striking feature is its perforated aluminium facade, dotted with lights that will make the building glow like it’s on fire. “Several times an hour a spark of light will gradually grow into a burning flame that lights up the entire building. When the metaphorical fire ceases, the building falls back into a state of burning embers,” the architect said in Dezeen. The lights might also glow blue or psychedelic.

It’s no great innovation to put lights on a building facade, but putting them on a waste incineration plant sends the message that this is a building meant to be seen and photographed. How many power plants can you say that about?

Another prime example of destination infrastructure is the Amager Bakke Waste-to-Energy Plant outside of Copenhagen. The huge, slope-shaped building will double as a mountain for skiing and hiking. When you can’t hide your garbage any longer, you have to live alongside it, and some innovative architecture doesn’t hurt.

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Military Kill Switches: A Great Idea That Won't Happen Soon

The ruthless killers of ISIS are wreaking havoc in the Middle East, aided in no small part by US military weaponry the group has hijacked from the Iraqi army. But according to one Harvard law professor, there’s an easy fix to our own weapons being used against us: kill switches.

In a column for Scientific American,

internet futurist and security evangelist Jonathan Zittrain makes a compelling case for kill switches in military weaponry. The idea makes great sense at face value. The US is giving all of this powerful equipment to foreign countries, and when it falls into the wrong hands, there’s not really anything we can do about it. So why not install the same kind of kill switches that are in iPhones into tanks and Humvees and what not?

The reason we haven’t so far is fairly straightforward; the military is very wary of anything that could be hacked. Kill switches often — but not always! — require a network, which carries plenty of dangers of its own. That’s also a big reason why much of the military still uses otherwise antiquated technology. If it can’t connect to the internet, hackers can’t use the internet to sabotage it or gain access to invaluable intelligence. Zittrain offers a few ideas to work around this problem:

More simply, any device with onboard electronics, such as a Stinger or a modern tank, could have a timed expiration; the device could operate after the expiration date only if it receives a coded “renew” signal from any of a number of overhead satellites. The renewal would take effect as a matter of course — unless, say, the weapons were stolen. This fail-safe mechanism could be built using basic and well-tested digital signature-and-authentication technologies.

That could mitigate misuse, but it wouldn’t completely prevent it. In fact, a type of kill switch does exist, but it was developed back in 1949. In decades since, the US Department of Defense has been working on implementing better kill switches, and DARPA’s even commissioned IBM to build self-destructing chips. We’re not nearly at a place where it’s practical though. A European chip maker built a kill switch into its microprocessors a few years ago; in 2007, Israeli jets exploited it to bomb Syria. You can only imagine how nervous that incident made the American researchers working on building similar technologies. Until we reach zero margin of error, it’s not going to happen.

All that said, Zittrain’s call to arms is a good one. Installing hacker-proof kill switches in military weaponry is a great idea. Unfortunately, for now it can’t be anything more than that.

[MIKA27]

What The Future Of Nuclear Fusion Research Looked Like In 1962

At the onset of the atomic age, governments on both sides of the iron curtain sought to harness the power of nuclear fusion. Researchers at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory in New Jersey stood at the forefront of the American effort when, in 1953, they began using Stellarators — one of the earliest controlled fusion systems.

Early fusion research in the western world nearly immediately split into two halves after the end of WWII, with one subset of researchers observing super-compressed fusion materials at very short timescales, the others — including Dr. Lyman Spitzer, chair of the Department of Astronomy at Princeton University — observing these materials at a lower compression for longer times. Spitzer’s invention served this purpose wonderfully. The Stellarator that Spitzer invented in 1950 is designed to hold superheated, electrically-charged plasma — a most vital and basic component of nuclear fusion research — within a designated field using electromagnetic currents.

As a 1996 report by UCSD for the Fusion Energy Science Advisory Committee explains, these devices are essential for expanding our understanding of plasma physics:

The stellarator drives the development of three-dimensional (3-D) plasma physics, which is needed throughout the toroidal fusion program and for the study of naturally occurring plasmas. For example, resistive wall modes and field error effects are 3-D equilibrium problems. 3-D effects provide fundamental limits on the performance of nominally axisymmetric devices like tokamaks and RFP’s. Electron orbits in the magnetosphere are studied using the magnetic coordinate and drift Hamiltonian techniques developed for stellarators.

Normally when you heat a gas into plasma, it will naturally dissipate given the chance and, since there aren’t really any physical materials that can endure the enormous amounts of heat energy plasma emits, the particles must be confined using electromagnetic repulsion — specifically, the Lorentz force. When a wire helix is wrapped around a tube-shaped support structure and electrified, it generates a magnetic field that radiates out along the diameter of the wire. Since the field is stronger on the inside of the coil than the outside, it effectively compresses the plasma and prevents it from actually touching the support wall. And to keep the plasma from shooting out of the ends of the coil like soda out of a straw, the two ends are simply connected to form a doughnut of wire with a superheated particle filling.

The problem with this design was that the highest-energy — and therefore most valuable — particles would eventually spin themselves clear out of the confinement field. Spitzer’s Stellarator minimized this occurrence by twisting and stretching the ring shape into a figure 8 with a 180 degree twist in the middle. That way, any high energy particles on the outside edge of the ring (where the field is weakest) would be flipped back to the center of the beam by the time it entered the next curve.

Virtually all plasma physics research throughout the 1950s and 1960s occurred on Stellarators. The Model C, above, was the largest of these devices. “The machine was in the form of a racetrack t,200 cm in length with 5-7.5 cm minor radius for the plasma,” Thomas H Stix describes in Highlights in Early Stellarator Research at Princeton. “The toroidal magnetic field was typically operated at 35,000 gauss. One of the two straight legs of the racetrack contained a divertor, the other one a section to supply 4 megawatts of 25 MHz ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH). l:2 and l:3 helical windings installed on the U-bends provided a rotational transform up to about 180′.”

It entered service in 1962 and immediately blew the doors off of the earlier figure-8 design. It incorporated a pair of major innovations — the divertor, which sucked unwanted waste particles out of the stream without disrupting the confinement field, and ICRH that uses radio waves to force the ions to spin around the centre axis of the field the same way the wire helix of the earlier models wound around the central core of their support matrix — mitigated earlier models’ issues with plasma loss. This design also directly influenced the design development of the newer Tokamak experiments. In fact, in 1969 the PPPL converted the Model C itself to a tokamak design, renaming it the Symmetric Tokamak.

These machines were capable of heating ions to 1.6 keV, electrons to 3.5 keV, and packing as many as 3 x 1020 particles into a cubic meter of interior space, which is roughly what the Tokamak technology that supplanted Stellarators in the 1970s were capable of. However, the tokamaks didn’t suffer from anomalous plasma loss — they run the electrical current through the plasma itself rather than through the external wire helix — and returned better results than the earlier technology. This led to Stellarators to fall out of favour with the research community for nearly three decades until shortcomings in the Tokamak technology spurred a rekindling in interest for the Stellarator design in the 1990s. Today the Wendelstein 7-X in Germany, the Helically Symmetric Experiment in Wisconsin and Japan’s Large Helical Device carry on the work and the spirit of the original Stellarators.

[MIKA27]

All Systems Are Go For This C-17 Pilot's Night Of Iraqi Relief Flights

Briefly: The US Air Force and its allies have been regularly dropping humanitarian aid packages in support of towns and communities besieged by ISIS. On August 31, a USAF photographer captured this stunning image of Capt. Erica Stooksbury, of the the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, prepping her C-17 Globemaster for a relief mission over Amirli, Iraq.

MIKA: I know you'll love this pic Paul

I love aviation, military stuff.

[MIKA27]

We’d All Benefit if Celebs Sue Apple Over the Photo Hack

David Vladeck believes Apple will likely be sued after hackers grabbed nude photos that celebrities stored on the company’s iCloud service.

Vladeck, the former director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection and a professor of law at Georgetown University, acknowledges that such suits have had little success in the past, but he and other legal and cybersecurity experts also say that a lawsuit over the high-profile hack may be just the thing to push Apple and other online companies to more aggressively protect the people using their services.

Apple hasn’t said much about the hack—in which someone pilfered nude photos of dozens of celebrities, including Jennifer Lawrence, Kirsten Dunst, and Kate Upton. In a brief statement, the company called the incident “a very targeted attack on user names, passwords and security questions, a practice that has become all too common on the Internet,” and not a breach of any Apple systems, including iCloud and FindMyiPhone. But, regardless of Apple’s debatable definition of a breach, some experts believe the hack could inspire a change in the way courts and regulators treat such incidents.

Traditionally, data breach lawsuits rarely make it to trial. They’re typically settled or dismissed. The United States, unlike the European Union, has no overarching law dictating the security of a technology company, unless of course, it operates in health, finance, or another regulated sector. That, combined with the fact tech firms often disavow all liability in their privacy policies and end user license agreements, makes it difficult for courts to find them at fault.

But Vladeck and other experts believe that may change as regulators and courts realize our legal system puts consumers at a fundamental disadvantage against the businesses with which they entrust their digital lives. If Apple were to appear in court, these experts say, the case could finally set precedent for how tech companies must behave. Some, including Google, have made major security improvements in recent years to guard against such hackers. But many, including Apple, are behind the curve.

HE SAYS THAT A LAWSUIT OVER THE HIGH-PROFILE HACK MAY BE JUST THE THING TO PUSH APPLE AND OTHER ONLINE COMPANIES TO MORE AGGRESSIVELY PROTECT THE PEOPLE USING THEIR SERVICES.

“We’re in this legal mess where the contracts companies are relying on to protect them from liability are functionally the emperor’s clothes of contracts. It’s a poorly kept secret that no one understands them, and that’s not a tenable position,” says Andrea Matwyshyn, who recently served as senior policy advisor and academic in residence at the Federal Trade Commission. “We’re seeing a trust erosion happening, and the digital economy is entirely predicated on people trusting these products, and being willing to engage with this technology.”

If people no longer trust their information to these companies, she says, they’ll alter their behavior. And that could imperil the entire internet economy—which is precisely why she and others believe now may be the time to set some legal ground rules. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a case come out of this that made some good law around trying to fix some of these power imbalances that exist between consumers and providers,” Matwyshyn says.

What We Know About the Attack

To understand how this could play out, it’s important to understand how the hack happened. Though details are still emerging, many believe the hacker or hackers gained access to victims’ usernames and passwords using a brute force attack, in which hackers, often using software, repeatedly guess passwords until they get them right, or by guessing the answers to security questions in Apple’s password reset functionality.

In some cases, as WIRED’s Andy Greenberg recently explained, the credentials stolen with those techniques may have been combined with law enforcement software that enabled hackers to impersonate victims’ phones and download their data.

This means that, unlike a situation in which a business’s servers are compromised, any legal case or regulatory action would revolve around iCloud’s user interface and whether Apple offers and encourages users to implement reasonable security measures at log in. For instance, if a brute force attack occurred, that might indicate Apple failed to set reasonable limits on the number of login attempts that could be made before a user is locked out. Another question might be whether Apple’s optional two-factor authentication truly could have protected victims’ accounts, even if they had activated it.

“Apple’s argument will be: ‘We’re not responsible. Somebody else got the credentials.’ But it’s Apple that decides what the credentials can be,” says Fred Cate, professor of information security law at Indiana University, Bloomington. That caveat could encourage a lawsuit from the victims that accuse the company of negligence.

According to Vladeck, such a suit is highly likely, considering the high-profile nature of the hack and the deep pockets of the victims. Whether they’ll be successful, however, is a different story. “Those cases have, by and large, foundered on the question of whether the individual has been harmed,” Vladeck says.

Indeed, Cate says there’s never been a successful lawsuit against a company for failing to impose strict enough login credentials. But he believes a high profile suit could change attitudes. “I think this could be just that sort of case,” he says. “It takes egregious cases to move the law along.”

How the Courts Could Change

In such a case, the question also would arise as to whether the victims willingly agreed to a contract with Apple in which Apple disclaims liability. “Apple will claim that when we click ‘yes’ on those very long agreements in tiny fonts that are written by lawyers for lawyers that we fully understand those risks pertain, and we’re choosing to engage with them anyway,” Matwyshyn says.

While such agreements have protected companies in the past, Matwyshyn says, courts increasingly are ready to reassess them, accounting not only for the language in the contract, but for the user’s interpretation of the contract.

Another possibility is the Federal Trade Commission would investigate whether Apple has provided reasonable security measures, given the sensitivity of the data and the risks involved. The question then will be whether the hack was based on a known security flaw that was not fixed. “Unfortunately, that’s still the bulk of our industry,” Matwyshyn says. “Those are the types of problems where you’ll see private sector litigation and enforcement activity from the FTC.”

Indeed, a brute force attack very well could constitute a known risk. After all, Twitter experienced a similar hack in 2009 and quickly shored up its sign in. Even Apple referred to the attack in its statement as an “all too common” practice on the internet. Whether the FTC would view that as evidence that Apple failed to respond to a known threat, though, is unclear. And as Cate notes, such action “doesn’t usually put money in the hands of anyone who’s hurt, but it can provide substantial penalties, so the companies want to behave better next time.”

Apple’s Catch-22

None of this means Apple is in grave danger. The company’s privacy policy very well may serve as adequate disclosure to users. And Apple certainly could argue that just because users give their data to a third party source does not mean users completely relinquish responsibility to protect that data. If the victims didn’t use a sophisticated password, Apple could argue the victims were the ones being negligent.

According to Cate, Apple also will likely argue that forcing stricter log in credentials on users would threaten its business, because hardcore security measures could confuse or irritate the average consumer. “Whenever a company raises the security bar, the public hates it,” he says. “So they’re sort of in a Catch-22. We hate them when they make us use top security, but we hate them when they lose our data.”

That’s one reason why Cate, Vladeck, and Matwyshyn agree the United States is in desperate and growing need for laws that at least set basic ground rules for data security. The fear, of course, is that the rate of innovation in the tech sector will make any laws obsolete almost as soon as they’re passed. And yet, Matwyshyn notes that in other areas of contract law, rules have been created to guarantee basic standards for service. For instance, she says, “Your landlord can’t just turn off your heat in the middle of winter. That’s a basic agreement, no matter what your contract states.”

“For consumers,” she says, “data security is increasingly viewed like heat in winter.”

[MIKA27]

Comedian Joan Rivers dies aged 81

Comedian and TV host Joan Rivers has died, her daughter has said.

Rivers, 81, had been on life support in Mount Sinai Hospital since having a cardiac arrest in New York last week.

In a statement, her daughter Melissa said she died surrounded by family and friends, and she thanked hospital staff for their "amazing care".

The comedian, best known for her lacerating wit, stopped breathing during a procedure on her vocal cords at an outpatient clinic last Thursday.

"My mother's greatest joy in life was to make people laugh," said Melissa Rivers.

"Although that is difficult to do right now, I know her final wish would be that we return to laughing soon."

The actress and stand-up comedian is well known for her legendary put-downs and has more recently turned her razor-sharp tongue on the red carpet's worst dressed celebrities, hosting the E! network's Fashion Police.

Both Rivers and Melissa, her only child, have appeared together in reality TV show Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?

Joan Rivers in 1965, the year of her big break

She didn't just fire her barbs at others, however. She was always prepared to joke about herself, and in particular her plastic surgery.

In 2010, she tweeted a joke about her death, saying: With all the plastic surgery I've had I'm worried that when I die, God won't recognize me!

Shortly after her death was announced, tributes poured in from the world of entertainment.

Comedian and actress Whoopi Goldberg tweeted: "My friend Joan Rivers has passed away once again to quote Billy Crystal... There are no words. Bon Voyage Joan."

TV show host Ellen DeGeneres described Rivers as a pioneer, adding: "She paved the way for a lot of comedians. I'm very sad she's gone."

She was born Joan Alexandra Molinsky in Brooklyn, New York, to a family of Jewish immigrants who had fled the Russian Revolution.

Her big break came in 1965 when she appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and a long television career followed.

Her first marriage lasted only six months but her second with Edgar Rosenberg spanned more than two decades until his suicide in 1987.

[MIKA27]

Palmira Silva, 82, 'beheaded' in London garden

An 82-year-old woman has been killed in a suspected beheading in the garden of a north London house.

Palmira Silva was found behind the house in Nightingale Road, Edmonton, at about 13:00 BST, police said.

Palmira Silva

Police do not know whether Palmira Silva knew her attacker

Officers found her collapsed in the back garden and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

A 25-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder and is in custody. Detectives said there was no suggestion the killing had a terrorist motive.

The man is in hospital being treated for injuries suffered when he was arrested, police said.

A Taser was used during the arrest and a firearms officer is believed to have suffered a broken wrist.

Police said they were initially called to reports of a man armed with a knife and eyewitnesses said he had attacked an animal, possibly a cat or a dog.

Speaking at the scene of the attack, Cdr Simon Letchford said police had distracted the man while they evacuated nearby houses.

"Officers had to do everything they could to make other people safe and evacuate houses and put their lives on the line to make sure this individual did not cause further harm," he said.

He said officers smashed windows to get people out of properties after the man was "cornered" in a house.

Detectives investigating Ms Silva's death are also looking into an earlier attempted attack on two people in another address in Nightingale Road. Officers said the pair were not thought to have been hurt in the incident.

Police said they had traced the victim's next of kin but were unwilling to speculate on the nature of her injuries or the type of weapon used.

Police said they were not looking for anyone else in connection with the killing

Residents were evacuated from the area and the street has been cordoned off, police said

Police said forensic officers would be at the scene for hours to come

Det Ch Insp John Sandlin said: "I can understand why this may cause people concern, however we are confident that we are not looking for anyone else at this stage.

"Whilst it is too early to speculate on what the motive behind this attack was I am confident, based on the information currently available to me, that it is not terrorist related."

Neighbour Muhammed Yusuf said police knocked on his door and told him to leave the property immediately.

His son Ahmed, 19, said: "At first there were two police cars, then all of a sudden there were 20.

"The police said to drop everything. I said 'What's going on?' and they said there's a guy jumping over gardens."

Another resident Freda Odame, 30, saw a screaming man waving a weapon around.

She said: "I heard shouting and banging and I opened my curtains and saw a guy holding a knife in a back garden a few doors along."

The BBC's Home Affairs Correspondent Danny Shaw said it was currently unknown whether the victim and the suspect were known to each other.

The police watchdog, the Independent Police Complaints Commission, has been informed of the incident.

[MIKA27]

'Dreadnought' dinosaur yields big bone haul

New fossils found in Argentina represent the most complete giant sauropod dinosaur ever discovered.

Scientists say they have 70% of the key bones needed to fully describe the creature, Dreadnoughtus schrani.

It means they can confidently estimate its great bulk - a beast that measured 26m from head to tail and weighed in at almost 60 tonnes.

Remarkably, the skeletal analysis reveals Dreadnoughtus was still growing at the time of its death.

Quite how large the dino might have become, no-one can say.

The Patagonian rocks from which it was pulled suggest that the young animal's life was cut short in a catastrophic flood.

A detailed write-up on the 77-million-year-old fossils appears in the journal Scientific Reports.

The study group's leader is Kenneth Lacovara from Drexel University, Philadelphia, US.

He told the BBC that the dinosaur's enormous size would have been intimidating.

And for that reason, he has given the beast a name that recalls the massive battleships that revolutionised naval warfare in the early 1900s.

"Dreadnoughtus was huge, and in its environment there would have been nothing that could have preyed on it; it was essentially impervious to attack," he explained.

"And that evoked in my mind those turn-of-the-last-century battleships - the first really big steel battleships - that were also impervious to attack from the other ships that existed at that time. So, what better name than 'dread nought' - 'fears nothing'."

The Dreadnoughts were a revolution in battleship design at the start of the 20th Century

Dreadnoughtus was one of the so-called titanosaurs.

These immense, long-necked, plant-eating dinos were the most massive beasts ever to plod the Earth's land surface.

Some, such as Argentinosaurus - a previous South American discovery - could even have topped the scales at close to 100 tonnes.

But such estimates are based on very fragmentary evidence. In the case of Argentinosaurus, this is just half-a-dozen vertebrae in its mid-back, a few hip pieces and a shin bone.

And this is why Dreadnoughtus is generating so much excitement.

Although its skull has not survived, almost half of the rest of the skeleton has been preserved.

And when you consider just the key bone groups, more than two-thirds of the complete animal is present in fossil form.

The fossil haul is giving scientists remarkable new insights into the lives of the titanosaurs

As a result, Dreadnoughtus offers an unprecedented window into the anatomy, biomechanics and evolution of the titanosaurs.

And it is sure to stir up that debate over which was really the biggest ever dinosaur.

"When we look at one species and it appears to weigh 20 times more than another species, maybe what we're really looking at is an individual that is simply 30 years older than the other animal," said Dr Lacovara.

"Perhaps, what we are looking at are just growth series differences, rather than species or taxonomic differences.

"Certainly, just in terms of physiology, Dreadnoughtus, Argentinosaurus and some of the other big titanosaurs must have been approaching the limit of what was possible, but we don't know where that wall is."

Just its tail would have been 9m in length

Dr Paul Barrett from London's Natural History Museum described Dreadnoughtus as a major discovery.

"It finally gives some better insights into how these animals were actually built," he told BBC News.

"It gives us the opportunity to understand things like the limits of bone strength, in terms of how you can hold up an animal of such immense size.

"We can now start to think about modelling its breathing, its blood pressure and how much food it had to eat to get by. "Once we know more about the overall proportions and shapes of these animals - and Dreadnoughtus is a big step in that direction - we can begin to unravel the secrets of titanosaur biology."

The animal's great size would have made it pretty much impervious to attack

[MIKA27]

Are Fake Cell Towers Secretly Monitoring Your Calls?

You’re driving along chatting (not texting!) on your cell phone when suddenly its performance drops from 4G to 2G for no apparent reason. It’s time to get paranoid … there are fake cell towers around the country and someone may be tapping your cell phone. Who would do such a thing? (Do I really need to ask?)

Les Goldsmith, the CEO of ESD America, a defense and law enforcement technology provider based in Las Vegas, sounded the alarm in an article in Popular Science. Using his company’s ESD’s CryptoPhone 500, a modified Samsung Galaxy SIII, he and his customers found 17 different fake cell phone towers in the U.S. in the month of July.

Fake cell phone towers found by ESD.

“Fake cell phone tower” is actually a misnomer for what Goldsmith calls an “interceptor.” What looks like a real cell tower to your phone is actually a radio-equipped computer with some sinister software. Android and iOS phones have a second operating system running in the phone’s baseband processor chip that the interceptor hacks into. Once connected, the phone is open to everything from call and text monitoring to downloading spyware.

Who would be attacking your phone like this? Although the nude celebrity photo hacker has been getting all the publicity this week, Goldsmith points to more worrisome sources.

What we find suspicious is that a lot of these interceptors are right on top of U.S. military bases. So we begin to wonder – are some of them U.S. government interceptors? Or are some of them Chinese interceptors? Whose interceptor is it? Who are they, that’s listening to calls around military bases? Is it just the U.S. military, or are they foreign governments doing it? The point is: we don’t really know whose they are.

Goldsmith says that the interceptor devices cost less than $100,000 and can do things like intercept both voice and text, manipulate voices, send text on behalf of the user, track the user and much, much more. A few police departments use something called “Stingray” devices that allow a less sophisticated form of surveillance.

Are you worried (or angry) yet? The CryptoPhone 500 sells for $3,500. You can also just buy a disposable “burner” phone to use a few times and then throw away.

This is only going to get worse. Any other ideas?

[MIKA27]

TOBLERONE HOUSE IN SAO PAULO, BRAZIL

We’re not sure if Toblerone House in São Paulo, Brazil, has anything to do with the Toblerone Swiss chocolate bar, but we do know: Both are pretty sweet.

South American architects StudioMK27 have created this dazzling and unique 590 square meter structure, with a vast and spacious first floor with large sliding glass doors which support a wooden box delimited by concrete beams. That first floor houses the living room, utilities and kitchen, while the second floor is where you’ll find the three bedrooms, den, and home theater. This quote from the architect proves we made the right call in choosing a much simpler major: “The shape of the land allowed for a longitudinal implanting of the house with spatial permeability between the two extreme areas, with a loose canopy in the garden.” We just know it looks damn good.

[MIKA27]

VINNEBAGO

The creators of the ingenious Corkcicle wine chiller, have presented the Vinnebago, a beautiful insulated bottle that will keep your wine and other cold beverages perfectly chilled for up to 25 hours, and hot beverages for up to 12 hours. The company discovered a huge break-thru in traditional insulation technology, and the Vinnebago is vacuum sealed and triple walled. Available in black, white or silver.

Learn more from Corkcicle or purchase now from Amazon

[MIKA27]

Mazda's New MX-5 (Miata in the States) Looks Like A Baby Jaguar, Or Is That Just Me?

Mazda announced the new Miata Roadster yesterday — known locally as the MX-5 — and she’s a beaut! But does anyone else think that from certain angles it looks like a baby Jaguar roadster?

Seriously, it can’t just be me, right? Take a look at it from the back especially and it looks like one of the most handsome roadsters we’ve seen in years.

Then compare it to the rear of the Jaguar F-Type Roadster…

Sure, it’s smaller and the lip spoiler is slightly higher, but it’s the baby Jag clone I’ve always pined for!

Anyone?

Even if you don’t agree with me, you have to admit that it is desperately pretty.

Read more about the specs of the thing over at Jalopnik.

[MIKA27]

The Final Version Of The Oculus Rift Could Be As Cheap As $US200

The version of the Oculus Rift that you or I might buy could sell for as cheap as $US200, according to Oculus founder Palmer Luckey.

Luckey told Eurogamer that Oculus plans to sell its eventual consumer version for between $US200 and $US400, although he noted that may change based on scale, pre-orders and a number of other factors.

While the exact price is still up in the air, the quality of the Oculus is not. It’s going to be badass. “We know what we’re making and now it’s a matter of making it,” Luckey told Eurogamer, explaining the leap in quality from the most recent developer version (DK2) to the consumer version (CD1) should be just as huge as the leap from the first developer version to the second.

What can we expect? The resolution will increase from the 1080p on the developer version, to help make things like reading text easier, although Luckey wouldn’t say how much. It will also be a lighter and smaller device, with a refresh rate of 90Hz or higher. Again, we don’t know the specifics, but unless Luckey is bluffing, what we get in stores will definitely make you glad you waited for the real thing instead of shelling out for the developer version… which is already pretty awesome.

[MIKA27]

Time Travel Simulation Resolves “Grandfather Paradox”

On June 28, 2009, the world-famous physicist Stephen Hawking threw a party at the University of Cambridge, complete with balloons, hors d'oeuvres and iced champagne. Everyone was invited but no one showed up. Hawking had expected as much, because he only sent out invitations after his party had concluded. It was, he said, "a welcome reception for future time travelers," a tongue-in-cheek experiment to reinforce his 1992 conjecture that travel into the past is effectively impossible.

But Hawking may be on the wrong side of history. Recent experiments offer tentative support for time travel's feasibility—at least from a mathematical perspective. The study cuts to the core of our understanding of the universe, and the resolution of the possibility of time travel, far from being a topic worthy only of science fiction, would have profound implications for fundamental physics as well as for practical applications such as quantum cryptography and computing.

Closed timelike curves
The source of time travel speculation lies in the fact that our best physical theories seem to contain no prohibitions on traveling backward through time. The feat should be possible based on Einstein's theory of general relativity, which describes gravity as the warping of spacetime by energy and matter. An extremely powerful gravitational field, such as that produced by a spinning black hole, could in principle profoundly warp the fabric of existence so that spacetime bends back on itself. This would create a "closed timelike curve," or CTC, a loop that could be traversed to travel back in time.

Hawking and many other physicists find CTCs abhorrent, because any macroscopic object traveling through one would inevitably create paradoxes where cause and effect break down. In a model proposed by the theorist David Deutsch in 1991, however, the paradoxes created by CTCs could be avoided at the quantum scale because of the behavior of fundamental particles, which follow only the fuzzy rules of probability rather than strict determinism. "It's intriguing that you've got general relativity predicting these paradoxes, but then you consider them in quantum mechanical terms and the paradoxes go away," says University of Queensland physicist Tim Ralph. "It makes you wonder whether this is important in terms of formulating a theory that unifies general relativity with quantum mechanics."

Experimenting with a curve
Recently Ralph and his PhD student Martin Ringbauer led a team that experimentally simulated Deutsch's model of CTCs for the very first time, testing and confirming many aspects of the two-decades-old theory. Their findings are published in Nature Communications. Much of their simulation revolved around investigating how Deutsch's model deals with the “grandfather paradox,” a hypothetical scenario in which someone uses a CTC to travel back through time to murder her own grandfather, thus preventing her own later birth. (Scientific American is part of Nature Publishing Group.)

Deutsch's quantum solution to the grandfather paradox works something like this:

Instead of a human being traversing a CTC to kill her ancestor, imagine that a fundamental particle goes back in time to flip a switch on the particle-generating machine that created it. If the particle flips the switch, the machine emits a particle—the particle—back into the CTC; if the switch isn't flipped, the machine emits nothing. In this scenario there is no a priori deterministic certainty to the particle's emission, only a distribution of probabilities. Deutsch's insight was to postulate self-consistency in the quantum realm, to insist that any particle entering one end of a CTC must emerge at the other end with identical properties. Therefore, a particle emitted by the machine with a probability of one half would enter the CTC and come out the other end to flip the switch with a probability of one half, imbuing itself at birth with a probability of one half of going back to flip the switch. If the particle were a person, she would be born with a one-half probability of killing her grandfather, giving her grandfather a one-half probability of escaping death at her hands—good enough in probabilistic terms to close the causative loop and escape the paradox. Strange though it may be, this solution is in keeping with the known laws of quantum mechanics.

In their new simulation Ralph, Ringbauer and their colleagues studied Deutsch's model using interactions between pairs of polarized photons within a quantum system that they argue is mathematically equivalent to a single photon traversing a CTC. "We encode their polarization so that the second one acts as kind of a past incarnation of the first,” Ringbauer says. So instead of sending a person through a time loop, they created a stunt double of the person and ran him through a time-loop simulator to see if the doppelganger emerging from a CTC exactly resembled the original person as he was in that moment in the past.

By measuring the polarization states of the second photon after its interaction with the first, across multiple trials the team successfully demonstrated Deutsch's self-consistency in action. "The state we got at our output, the second photon at the simulated exit of the CTC, was the same as that of our input, the first encoded photon at the CTC entrance," Ralph says. "Of course, we're not really sending anything back in time but [the simulation] allows us to study weird evolutions normally not allowed in quantum mechanics."

Those "weird evolutions" enabled by a CTC, Ringbauer notes, would have remarkable practical applications, such as breaking quantum-based cryptography through the cloning of the quantum states of fundamental particles. "If you can clone quantum states,” he says, “you can violate the Heisenberg uncertainty principle,” which comes in handy in quantum cryptography because the principle forbids simultaneously accurate measurements of certain kinds of paired variables, such as position and momentum. "But if you clone that system, you can measure one quantity in the first and the other quantity in the second, allowing you to decrypt an encoded message."

"In the presence of CTCs, quantum mechanics allows one to perform very powerful information-processing tasks, much more than we believe classical or even normal quantum computers could do," says Todd Brun, a physicist at the University of Southern California who was not involved with the team's experiment. "If the Deutsch model is correct, then this experiment faithfully simulates what could be done with an actual CTC. But this experiment cannot test the Deutsch model itself; that could only be done with access to an actual CTC."

Alternative reasoning
Deutsch's model isn’t the only one around, however. In 2009 Seth Lloyd, a theorist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, proposed an alternative, less radical model of CTCs that resolves the grandfather paradox using quantum teleportation and a technique called post-selection, rather than Deutsch's quantum self-consistency. With Canadian collaborators, Lloyd went on to perform successful laboratory simulations of his model in 2011. "Deutsch's theory has a weird effect of destroying correlations," Lloyd says. "That is, a time traveler who emerges from a Deutschian CTC enters a universe that has nothing to do with the one she exited in the future. By contrast, post-selected CTCs preserve correlations, so that the time traveler returns to the same universe that she remembers in the past."

This property of Lloyd's model would make CTCs much less powerful for information processing, although still far superior to what computers could achieve in typical regions of spacetime. "The classes of problems our CTCs could help solve are roughly equivalent to finding needles in haystacks," Lloyd says. "But a computer in a Deutschian CTC could solve why haystacks exist in the first place.”

Lloyd, though, readily admits the speculative nature of CTCs. “I have no idea which model is really right. Probably both of them are wrong,” he says. Of course, he adds, the other possibility is that Hawking is correct, “that CTCs simply don't and cannot exist." Time-travel party planners should save the champagne for themselves—their hoped-for future guests seem unlikely to arrive.

[MIKA27]

Puppy love? Indian girl marries a DOG to warn off evil spirits - WTF!?

Mangli Munda, from a remote village in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, said 'I do' to the stray canine in a lavish ceremony surrounded by 70 friends and family.

The wedding was organised by village elders after a local guru led Mrs Munda's parents to believe that she possessed bad luck, and that marrying a man would bring devastation to her village.

The furry groom, Sheru, arrived at the ceremony in style - escorted in a chauffeur driven car - and was greeted by well-wishers.

But Mrs Munda, who has not been to school, said that she had more than cold feet on the big day.

The hesitant bride admitted that she was not happy to marry a dog, but did so in the hope that her luck would change.

She said: "I am marrying a dog because the village elders believe that my evil spell will be passed on to the dog.

"After that is done, the man I will marry will have a long life."

Her father, Sri Amnmunda, was happy for his daughter to go through with the matrimony and even picked out the privileged pooch .

He said: "The village elders told us that we should organise the wedding as soon as we can. We had to make sure that the evil spell is destroyed.

"And marrying a dog is the only way to get rid of the bad luck."

Amazingly, this is not the first time that a local girl has wed a canine in Mrs Munda's village.

Her father added: "Many weddings like this have taken place in our village and also the other neighbouring villages.

"This is a custom that we thoroughly believe in."

According to village customs, Mrs Munda is free to marry again later in life without divorcing the dog.

"My villagers say that many girls like me have followed this ritual and they have gotten rid of their evil spells and are living happy lives now," she said.

"I will also be free to marry a man of my dreams after after the evil spell is over."

But despite the fact that the groom is a bit on the furry side, Mrs Munda's mother insists that this was just like any other wedding.

"Apart from the fact that the groom is a dog, we followed all customs," said Seema Devi.

"We respect the dog as much as we would respect a normal groom.

"We had to spend money on this wedding in the same way as we would in a normal wedding.

"But that is the only way we can get rid of her bad luck and ensure the benevolence of the village."

Now that the big day is over, Mrs Munda will go on to look after Sheru like any other pet while looking out for her true prince charming.

She added: "I will marry a man one day.

"It is the dream of every girl to marry a prince charming.

"So I am also waiting for my prince."

MIKA: ....did they consummate the marriage?

[MIKA27]

Powerful Photographs Of Shaolin Monks Practicing Kung Fu

Award winning travel photographer Tomasz Gudzowaty (who's work has been published in likes of Forbes, TIME Magazine and L'Equipe and who's awards include World Press Photo, Pictures of the Year and NPPA Best of Photojournalism to name a few) recently shot the following stunning series, focusing on the training regimes of Shaolin monks.

He visited a remote Shaolin Monastery to see first hand the techniques and protocols the monks used to strengthen their bodies and minds.

Each ancient technique focuses on enhancing ones endurance, balance, strength and ability to absorb tremendous amounts of physical and mental pain.

The physical limitations of their body, they believe, are symptomatic of the strength of their mind and soul.

You can also purchase strictly limited edition prints from his website, each are made using fine art silver gelatin prints on barite paper, numbered and signed by the artist, hand-made in two limited editions of 33.

[MIKA27]

16 Inventors Who Were Killed By Their Own Inventions

Inventions have been boosting economic growth and productivity since the dawn of man. Unsurprisingly, it is the inventor who is often the early tester of those inventions. And unfortunately, some of those inventions pose deadly risks.

With the help of Wikipedia, I’ve compiled a short list of brilliant engineers, scientists, and old-fashioned daredevils who fell victim to their own ideas.

1. The co-founder of the Stanley Motor Carriage Company crashed his automobile into a woodpile.

Francis Edgar Stanley and his twin brother Freeland Oscar Stanley invented the Stanley Steamer automobile in 1896.

In 1906, they broke the world record for the fastest mile -- 28.2 seconds. That means that their car went 127 mph, or 205 kph.

In 1918, the two brothers sold their Stanley Motor business. Later that year, Francis was driving his car when he veered sharply, hoping to avoid an obstacle. The car crashed into a woodpile and his car overturned.

2. The first hot air balloonist died while crossing the English Channel.

The 'extremely theatrical' Jean-Françoise Pilâtre de Rozier volunteered for the first human hot air balloon flight in 1783 (along with Marquis d'Arlandes) because 'there was no way' he 'was going to let this honour go to an artisan.' The flight propelled him into international stardom.

Two other men later gained notoriety for being the first to cross the English Channel by hot air balloon. Their flight was not without significant problems -- and they nearly drowned.

Pilâtre de Rozier was envious of their stardom (and that he was no longer the center of attention) and created the Rozière balloon to solve the problems faced by the other men. Unfortunately, something mysterious went wrong during his own attempt at crossing the English Channel, and he died during the flight.

3. Scientists working in a secret New Mexico laboratory called 'Omega Site' received lethal doses of radiation from the core of a plutonium bomb.

In 1946, eight scientists including Louis Slotin (who previously worked on the Manhattan project) and S. Allen Kline were working on an 'action that would bring into close proximity the two halves of a beryllium-coated sphere and convert the plutonium to a critical state.'

Slotin and the team had performed this experiment over 24 times by that point, but this specific time a screwdriver that was keeping the two halves from touching slipped -- which caused a lethal burst of radiation. Slotin died in nine days.

4. Bullock's printing press crushed his foot. He then developed gangrene and died during his amputation surgery.

William Bullock invented a better version of the rotary printing press in 1863, which was the first 'modern' newspaper printing press.

In 1867 his leg got caught and crushed in the gears of the printing press -- which led to gangrene developing in that leg. He died during the amputation operation.

5. The man credited with popularizing jogging died while on a morning jog.

James 'Jim' Fixx started the jogging trend after publishing several fitness books including 'The Complete Book of Running'.

He died after a 'massive' heart attack during a jog.

Fixx actually took up jogging because he worried about his hereditary predisposition to heart disease: his father started having heart troubles at age 35, and later died of a heart attack at age 43.

6. A Bolshevik co-founder hoped to achieve eternal youth via blood transfusions -- but ended up dying from one.

Alexander Bogdanov originally co-founded the Bolshevik Party with Vladmir Lenin, but was kicked out of the group by 1909 (before the revolution).

He shifted gears to science, medicine, and psychiatry, and even inventing his own discipline, 'tektology' -- an attempt unify all the sciences.

In the 1920s, Bogdanov began experimenting with blood transfusions in order to 'achieve eternal youth or at least partial rejuvenation.' He even convinced Stalin to create the Institute of Blood Transfusion.

Following 11 blood transfusions, Bogdanov claimed that his eyesight improved, and that his balding was 'suspended'. He died when he took the blood of a student who had malaria and tuberculosis.

The student made a complete recovery.

7. Titanic's chief naval architect was aboard the ship for its maiden voyage -- and was heralded as a hero.

Thomas Andrews designed the ship, and suggested that the Titanic have 'at least 46 life boats.' Ultimately only 20 were added, despite his advice.

He spent his last hours helping people find life jackets and get into lifeboats. After helping everyone he could, Andrews was last seen in the first class smoking room, staring at a painting -- 'Approach to the New World.' His body was never recovered.

He is remembered as a hero.

8. The inventors of the flying Ford Pinto died when the car's detachable wings detached mid-flight.

Henry Smolinski and Hal Blake invented the AVE Mizar, a flying car with detachable wings.

They envisioned a flying car that would act like a mini helicopter, and would travel short distances of several hundred miles between local airports. After the flight, the driver could just take take the wings off and drive away from the airport.

Unfortunately, the detachable wings detached mid-flight during a test run. There were no attempts at a second model.

9. The 'Glider King' lost control of his hang glider and fractured his spine after a 50 foot nosedive.

The man who inspired the Wright Brother -- Lilienthal -- was the first person to take safe and replicable gliding flights. Before Lilienthal's successes, flying was considered to be an impossibility reserved 'for dreamers and fools.'

All together, Lilienthal constructed eighteen types of gliders: fifteen monoplanes and three biplanes, and took over 2,000 glider flights.

During his last flight he lost control, and went into a nosedive -- which fractured his spine. While he was lying in the hospital, his last words were 'Opfer müssen gebracht werden!', meaning 'Sacrifices must be made!'

10. The Chancellor under the Qin Dynasty devised the Five Pains execution method -- and was later was executed by the same method.

Li Si, the Chancellor under the Qin Dynasty during the 3rd century BCE devised the 'Five Pains' (alternatively referred to as the 'Five Punishments') torture method -- the victim's forehead was branded; then his nose was cut off; then his foot was cut off; then he was castrated; and then he was executed.

After the death of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, Li Si and the eunuch Zhao Gao decided to override the emperor's wishes and installed their own chosen prince as the successor. And then, Zhao Gao had Li Si executed in the Five Pains method.

11. An Austrian inventor was testing a rocket when it accidentally exploded and killed him.

Max Valier was interested in moving forward rocketry, and hoped to advance towards spaceflight. In 1927, he created the Spaceflight Society, and in 1928 created rocket cars that accelerated up to 145 mph. And if that wasn't enough, in 1929 he created a rocket powered sled that hit 250 mph.

After his vehicular successes, he started to experiment with liquid propellant rockets, hoping to soon experiment with rocket-powered aircrafts. A rocket accidentally exploded, killing Valier in 1930.

12. The author of a 10th century Arab dictionary leapt from the roof of a mosque, and attempted to fly with two wooden wings.

Abu Nasr Isma'il ibn Hammad al-Jawhari was a 10th-11th century lexicographer and theologian who is best remembered as the author of an Arab dictionary.

He also leapt off the roof of the Nisabur Mosque, and attempted to fly with two wooden wings.

13. Marie Curie won two Nobel Prizes for physics and chemistry, but later died from exposure to radiation.

Marie Curie is credited with the discovery of radium and polonium, and for numerous advances in radioactivity (a word she invented). Her work led to the development of X-Rays

For her work, she was awarded the Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry. That made her the first woman to win the Nobel Prize and the only woman to have been awarded the Nobel Prize twice. To this day, she is the only PERSON to win a Nobel Prize in two different sciences.

Unfortunately, she was exposed to a lot of radiation because of her research, and died of leukemia in 1934.

14. A daredevil stuntman died after he rolled off the Houston Astrodome in his shock absorbent barrel.

Karel Soucek is probably best known as the eighth person to go over the Niagara Falls in 1984... in a homemade barrel.

In 1985, Soucek rolled off the Houston Astrodome in another self-designed barrel in front of N audience of 35,000. There was a water tank below the Astrodome that was supposed to soften Soucek's fall -- however, the barrel clipped the edge of the tank. His skull was fractured and his chest and abdomen were crushed.

15. 'The Flying Tailor' jumped off the Eiffel Tower and attempted to fly with his clothes-parachute.

The French tailor-slash-inventor, Franz Reichelt, designed a 'vêtement-parachute' (clothes-parachute). To test his invention, he jumped off the Eiffel Tower in 1912. His flight was unsuccessful.

According to a 1912 article from the now-defunct Le Temps, Reichelt was given permission to do this experiment by the Parisian Police, although they were under the impression that he would be using a dummy.

16. The Soviet inventor of the a propeller-driven rail car died after the machine derailed during a test run.

Valerian Abakovsky designed a propeller-driven rail car that was intended to transport officials quickly across the Soviet Union -- which was been a great idea because of the country's large land mass.

Unfortunately, during a test run in 1921, the rail car derailed and the project was canceled.

BONUS: Legend has it that a 16th century Chinese local government official tied 47 rockets to a chair and tried to fly to the moon.

According to a Chinese legend, Wan Hu, a local government official during the Ming Dynasty, aspired to travel to the moon.

Rockets use has been reported all the way to 1232 in China (back to when the Chinese were at war with the Mongols). As a result, it's possible that Wan Hu had access to rockets.

He attached two kites and 47 gunpowder-filled rockets to a chair, and asked 47 servants to light the rockets. According to the legend, there was an 'enormous bang' -- and Wan and his contraption disappeared.

It's unclear whether the Wan Hu story is true, but a lunar crater was named Wan-Hoo in his honour.