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

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The 2015 Super Bowl Commercials And Trailers Part 9

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Coca-Cola

http://youtu.be/ibgvkXm9Qkc

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It's Official: That Much-Hyped Big Bang Discovery Was Literally All Dust

There will be no Nobel prizes after all. Last March, scientists announced they had discovered our first direct evidence of the Big Bang, but that evidence has been slowly crumbling away. The results of a joint analysis released today make it official: It was all just cosmic dust.

What the original team of physicists using the BICEP2 telescope thought they saw was evidence of primordial gravitational waves leftover from the Big Bang. Alas, the distortions in light erroneously attributed to the gravitational waves were actually due to cosmic dust.

We wrote about the controversy over the gravitational waves discovery in greater detail last fall, when the doubts first began bubbling up. [ESA]

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This Anti-Bullet Wall Can Stop Bullets From Penetrating And Ricocheting

http://youtu.be/OuQOmOBayBA

Somehow a wall filled with these hard ceramic balls is bulletproof. It stops bullets from penetrating through the wall and even prevents bullets from ricocheting off the wall too. It’s basically the best shield against a gun we have.

Sure, sandbags can also stop bullets but Saab’s Soft Armour system anti bullet wall looks like a normal wall that can be put onto any building. The technology is explained here:

Saab’s Soft Armour system offers protection against ballistic penetration up to NATO 7.62 mm AP ammunition (STANAG level III). The system is a box concept filled with hard ceramic balls. The system is especially designed to enhance survivability and can be fitted to any structure prior to missions, or even retrofitted to existing structures in operational theatre.

A unique ceramic material protects against ballistic penetration. Soft Armour is a patented ballistic protection technology that provides security for people in vulnerable environments. Soft Armour also protects critical equipment and facilities. Soft Armour protects against all small arms ammunition including armour piercing. The system has a lower total cost than ceramic and composite protection, with reusability, multi-hit capabilities and high flexibility.

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TSOVET SVT-AX87

Tsovet is one of the leading lights of the modern American watchmaking renaissance, the company was founded by renowned timepiece designer David Bonaventura in California in 2006 and lists industrial tools, vintage automobile gauges, and avionics instruments as its primary influences.

The SVT-AX87 (shown above and below) is powered by a Swiss made Ronda 513.1 movement and measures 13.65mm wide, and 47mm across the face. The model can be ordered in three colour variations and has a depth rating of 100 metres. [Purchase]

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NASA Comments on Ceres and Asteroid BL86 UFOs

When NASA actually makes a comment about a UFO, even if it’s just to deny it and give its own explanation, it’s big news. When NASA makes two comments about UFOs in one week, it’s even bigger news. When NASA admits it doesn’t know what one of these unidentified objects is, it’s time to sit up, pay attention and see what’s going on.

The first image of Asteroid BL86 and the object orbiting it

The first UFO is the object orbiting the one-third-mile-wide asteroid BL86 which came close to Earth (745,000 miles away – three times the distance of Earth to the moon) on January 26. Everyone, including NASA, was surprised to see something in orbit around the asteroid. Measuring only 230 feet in diameter, the object appears to be diamond-shaped and, in the first videos released, was stationary rather than spinning. NASA called it a moon but, when that was questioned by many, it issued a second video from a different angle and another explanation:

In the near-Earth population, about 16% of asteroids that are about 655 feet or larger are a binary (the primary asteroid with a smaller asteroid moon orbiting it) or even triple systems (two moons).

Convinced? While that controversy raged on, a second one popped up. Images taken by the Dawn spacecraft of the dwarf planet Ceres released on January 19 show a large, flickering white spot on the surface. (image above) What could it be? Mission director and chief engineer Marc Rayman gave this unusual statement:

Yes, we can confirm that it is something on Ceres that reflects more sunlight, but what that is remains a mystery. We do not know what the white spot is, but it’s certainly intriguing. In fact, it makes you want to send a spacecraft there to find out, and of course that is exactly what we are doing! So as Dawn brings Ceres into sharper focus, we will be able to see with exquisite detail what [the white spot] is.

Gee, I wonder what NASA will say if it’s a spaceship?

In the meantime, two statements in a week from NASA on UFOs means someone is listening.

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U.S. Considers Supplying Arms to Kiev Forces

After weeks of reversals for Ukrainian forces, the Obama administration is “taking a fresh look” at sending them lethal aid, The New York Times is reporting.

Gen. Philip Breedlove, NATO’s military commander, reportedly supports the move, though President Obama has not made any decisions. So far the United States has sent only “non-lethal” aid to Ukraine, including body armor, worried that offering more would trigger retaliation from Russia. A report to be released Monday by eight former senior U.S. officials recommends sending $3 billion in defensive arms and equipment to Ukraine.

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GLOW LASER HEADPHONES

These are the world’s first smart headphones that glow with laser light, and had Darth Vader been a little more into music than violence, maybe we would’ve seen him holster his lightsaber and rock these earbuds instead.

Using laser-driven Corning Fibrance, Glow headphones shine bright with a vibrant light while still curving and contouring as necessary. They can pulse to the beat of your music or even the rhythm of your heart (not applicable for Sith lords), and certainly will stand out on your nightly jog or in a darkened dorm room. But they also bring some extra functionality to the table, as when used with Android Wear, Glow gives you control of apps like YouTube, Spotify, Netflix, and more. Of course no headphones without great sound would be worth investing in, and the makers of Glow say listeners will get a “clear and balanced audio response” of the high-end audiophile variety. [Purchase]

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DTV SHREDDER | ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLE

This all-terrain vehicle is called the DTV Shredder, because it´s a dual tracked vehicle, and it shreds any surface you can think of! DTV´s CEO says it´s a "mini tank that rides like a skateboard”, and we do think that´s quite the accurate description for it, it can go up to speeds like 25 mph (40kmh), and that´s fast on a small thing like this! With 6-point articulating suspension, cast aluminum swing arms, variable speed, CVT system and the original two paddle styled, molded rubber tracks, it´s really a perky all-surface toy. With a 200cc, four stroke engine, that develops 14 hp, and a weight of 145 kg, it´ll literally take you any place you want to go! It´s pivoting deck allows you to swing it, and give it the direction you want to, it also features hydraulic brakes to stop it properly. So whether it´s snow, sand, dirt or gravel, if you want to shred it in a new and fun way, the DTV is the way to go! watch the video and check it out in action

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The 2015 Super Bowl Commercials And Trailers Part 10

Tomorrowland

This movie looks eye-poppingly good.

Game Of War

Kate Upton plugging an app which I’ve never heard of.

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The 2015 Super Bowl Commercials And Trailers Part 11

Clash Of Clans

http://youtu.be/qpPLOdioG-c

Liam Neeson sucks at Clash Of Clans, but he loves a scone.

Carls Jr

This is just…I don’t even.

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Apple Stores May Be Outfitted With Special Safes For Gold Apple Watches

As we get closer to Apple Watch’s official launch, more details are becoming clearer and clearer. For one, we’re pretty certain they will be shipping in April and may not have the greatest battery life. However, one piece of info that’s remained frustratingly elusive is how much its pricier option, the Apple Watch Edition, will cost.

Call it morbid curiosity, but I’m officially interested in how much Apple will be pawning off the Apple Watch Edition, that 18-karat gaudy elegant gold wrist wearable. Rumours have it pegged any where from $US1000 (no way) to $US10,000 (super duper mega no way). Now 9to5Mac reports, that Apple stores will be outfitted with special safes to store the Apple Watch Edition smartwatches, pulling a well-known page out of your average jeweler’s playbook. 9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman explains:

The safes will likely be used to carry both to-be-sold inventory as well as to store demo units from the show floor overnight. The custom-designed safes will be outfitted with Apple Watch MagSafe chargers in order to keep the demo units charged up and ready to go for the next day of business. Apple has already begun installing the safes in some stores…

Considering the price of typical pieces of tech in your average Apple store, this special treatment adds up to Apple Watch Edition being worth some serious scratch, a possibly choice between having a high fashion item or sending your a kid to college. Of course, a watch is much easier to conceal than say — a massive 5k monitor. So when you consider its size, the preparation begins to make sense, even if the price really doesn’t. [9to5Mac]

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Heroes Reborn: Everyone's Favourite Superhero Series Gets A Reboot

http://youtu.be/C6zVQXpUe_0

The first season of NBC’s Heroes was awesome. A weekly series about people with special powers that went from strength-to-strength. Sadly, it was derailed by the writer’s strike and never quite got its rhythm back. Now, NBC is hoping to rekindle the super-series with a new mini-series spin-off: Heroes Reborn. Here’s a trailer.

It’s only a short one, and doesn’t give an indication of when it’s actually going to premiere, but it’s awesome to hear that iconic music and see how it all kicks off with an eclipse once again.

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Which Countries Are Most Likely To Be Wiped Out By Future Disasters?

The results of a new report show which countries are the most vulnerable to risk — and the most ready to respond when disaster strikes.

Bigger storms and more flooding are some of the most most obvious ingredients in the risk stew brewed up by climate change. But what happens after the storms subside? What about all the secondary and tertiary effects of climate change? What about the challenge of finding the money or doing the infrastructural planning necessary to adapt to a changed environment, or the political stability and leadership to see a country through a time of dire food or water scarcity?

That’s the kind of cause-and-effect planning that the
Global Adaptation Index or GAIN has been doing since 1995. Every year GAIN, which was based in DC until it moved to become part of Notre Dame two years ago, publishes a report that ranks every country in the world on a scale from 1 to 100. The metrics that determine a country’s score are twofold: First, how vulnerable is the country to climate change, defined as “sensitivity to climate, population, infrastructure and resource stress, as well as the country’s adaptive capacity to those stresses”? And second, how prepared is the country to deal with those risks, in terms of “social, governance and economic factors”?

The idea is to give leaders the ability to gauge and assess how a particular country will respond to the rising tides, and all the chaos they bring with them. In November, the group met for its annual meeting to release its latest report — and the results are fascinating, if troubling.

1. We’re all better prepared today than 20 years ago

GAIN has been doing its rankings since 1995, and a comparison between the earliest and most recent risk maps show us that the world, in large part, is better prepared than it was in the 1990s.

2. Norway is the most prepared of all

Yep, the country with the 7th longest coastline in the world is also the most prepared for climate change. In fact, the report points out, it’s been #1 for preparedness for two decades, thanks to high scores for food stability, healthcare, access to clean water, and energy infrastructure.

3. The most at-risk countries are war-torn (and mostly land-locked)

The countries most at risk and least prepared are in Africa, and all of them have been destabilised by war — from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Chad, which occupies the last spot on the list. Most have a dearth of agricultural and medical resources combined with infrastructural and political insecurity.

4. Russia and China are getting better, Jordan is getting worse

In its release notes, GAIN points out the countries that have risen the highest and dropped the lowest. While Russia and China are improving, Jordan fell by 31 points — seemingly because of its low scores when it comes to fresh water access and dam capacity, a big issue for plenty of Middle Eastern countries.

5. If you’re looking for a safe haven, go to Scandinavia

Norway won the day, but all of Scandinavia made it into the top ten, alongside other Northern European countries, the US, Germany, and Australia and New Zealand. “Many do face moderate exposure to climate change, but they have good capacities to deal with the potential climate risks, including high access to amenities such as electricity, sanitation and clean drinking water,” a release explains.

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Hackers Posed As Hot Girls On Skype To Steal Intel From Syrian Rebels

It’s kind of the oldest trick in the book. Catfishing is where you pretend to be someone you’re not online so that you can trick someone else into doing something. And based on a new report, this is exactly how pro-Assad hackers have been robbing intel from opposition forces: They have been posing as hot girls on Skype and stealing battle plans from the Syrian rebel army.

The security research firm FireEye just published the details of a years-long investigation called “Behind the Syrian Conflict’s Digital Frontlines“. The report describes how pro-Assad forces used catfishing methods to install malware on the phones and computers of Syrian rebels, and then proceeded to steal at least 7.7GB worth of data from some 12,356 contacts in at least eight countries. That’s a lot of information.

The operation sounds almost surgical. The hackers would create fake profiles on Skype or Facebook that included a country-appropriate name and a “femme fatale” avatar. They’d then initiate contact and quickly find out if the victim was using a smartphone or a computer, knowing this would enable them to send the right malware.

After developing a rapport with the victim through small talk, they’d ask to swap photos:

HACKER: Are you opening it on your mobile?

IMAN: Computer and mobile

IMAN:… What is your date of birth?

HACKER:10-3-88

IMAN: Lololol

IMAN:10-3-89…….

TARGET: What a nice coincidence

TARGET: [sent File New-Imam-Picture.pif]

Surprise! The hacker’s photo is a fake, and it’s full of malware that gave attackers full access to the victim’s computer, including valuable military intelligence. (Apparently, Syrian rebel forces would keep photographs of battle plans on their phones and laptops.) What kinds of intel? All kinds:

Sometimes, the threat group would take whole sets of files pertaining to upcoming large-scale military operations. These included correspondence, rosters, annotated satellite images, battle maps, orders of battle, geographic coordinates for attacks, and lists of weapons from a range of fighting groups.

The New York Times details at least one key battle that appears to have been thwarted by hacking-related activities. Essentially, the rebels had planned to take a stretch of highway, but they never carried out the attack. It was revealed in the security research that pro-Assad hackers had stolen much of the rebels’ plans ahead of the battle. In a sense, this is a peek into the future of warfare.

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When Fire Hose Water Freezes On A Smouldering Building

Yesterday’s giant fire in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, left a paper records warehouse in tatters. While the building is still smouldering away, the New York Fire Department has been showering it with water from all sides. The cold winter air combined with a cascade of fire hose water makes for an icy freeze that is certainly a sight to behold.

Winter fires often leave their locations in an other-worldly state.

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India: Gold bars and cash found in school lockers

A locker-cleaning session at an Indian school has uncovered a stash of gold bars and stacks of cash, it's reported.

Employees came across the riches when they were wiping down dirty lockers at the school in the western city of Ahmedabad as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Clean India" campaign, The Hindu website reports. They discovered five apparently unused lockers in the staff room for which no keys could be found, so staff broke into them. Inside was the unexpected sight of 10m rupees in cash ($160,000; £108,000) in one locker, and more than 2kg (4.4lb) of gold bars in another. According to police, the solid gold is worth nearly 6m rupees.

The school doesn't have a record of who used the lockers and nobody has come forward to claim the contents, according to the NDTV website. The headteacher says the lockers haven't been assigned to anyone during the two years he has been there, and local police are equally flummoxed. "We have questioned many staff members and teachers, but we have been so far unable to trace the person who put those bags into these lockers," says one officer, KK Desai.

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PICTURE OF THE WEEK:

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MOTA SMART RING

No one likes to be at the table with the guy who’s constantly checking his phone (Well in my case, my wife ) to see how many likes his/her Instagram selfie has piled up. But if you’re just one of those guys, you might want to invest in a more discreet notification tool like the Mota Smart Ring.

This sleek ring features an LED touchscreen to ensure you never miss a social media update again.

Mota will vibrate your finger, alerting you of everything from calls and texts to email and social media. It’s powered by Bluetooth LE, making it easy to pair with any of your mobile devices. The screen displays messages from your favorite applications in an easy to read manner, and lets you swipe back and forth to see what’s important to you. The ring is available in two different color options, and is being released in June with a retail price of $99. [Purchase]

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ROLLS-ROYCE PHANTOM DROPHEAD COUPE NIGHTHAWK

Behold, Rolls-Royce’s newest special edition model from its Bespoke collection, the Phantom Drophead Coupe Nighthawk.

The Nighthawk’s full specs aren’t listed, but we do know the standard Phantom has a 6.75-liter V-12 engine good for 453 hp and 531 lb-ft of torque. Other highlights include adaptive LED headlights, Diamond Black Metallic paint, a Matt Diamond Black bonnet, carbon fiber dashboard panels and coach door panels, Hotspur Red and Black full-grain leather, and an instrument panel with incandescent orange tips and carbon dials straight out of a plane’s cockpit. Oh, and besides only being available in North America, the exclusivity factor gets amped up with the fact that only nine of these beauties are being built.

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BUNNY RUN BOAT DOCK

This spectacular retreat was designed by Andersson-Wise, an architecture & design studio based in Austin, Texas. Located on Lake Austin, The Bunny Run Boat Dock is a magical living space designed around a boat dock, it features two boat slips surrounded by the ultimate outdoor bar and living area. Can you imagine a better place to hang out and relax after a wakeboarding session? Check out some more amazing photos after the jump.

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FLY WALLET | BY FLY FISHING COLLABORATIVE

If you´re into Fly fishing, you should check out the Fly Fishing Collaborative, a company known for offering clients unique fly fishing adventures. Besides helping you build your own guided fishing trip, the company also sells these custom leather fly wallets crafted out of high quality leather, and with ample room to display your favorite flies. The heirloom quality wallets may be purchased empty or filled with a unique display of flies, head over to their website for more details.

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Woman With Most Extreme Body Modifications Just Got Even More Extreme

This is María José Cristerna also known as The Vampire Woman, in a photo just taken at the Venezuela Tattoo International Expo in Caracas, Venezuela. She was considered the woman with the most tattooing and body modifications in the world, but that hasn’t stopped her from getting even more.

Don’t get deceived by appearances: María José is a former lawyer, mother of four, tattoo artist and survivor of domestic abuse. Unfortunately, she gets judged all the time. Fortunately, there is a future ahead of us in which people would be able to look in any way they want, with body modifications or cybernetic parts, without having to endure the critic eyes of those who consider themselves “normal”.

Before and after

2015

2013

2012

2011

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This Is Why Dogs Have An Incredible Sense Of Smell

Dogs have an extraordinary sense of smell — a complex nasal architecture that lets them pick up scents and distinguish the chemical composition of hormones released by other animals. Alexandra Horowitz explains how this happens in an interesting TedEd lesson. Check it out.

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Sydney's Weirdest New Building Was Inspired By Skin Folds And Paper Bags

Gehry took inspiration from the design of tree houses for the new business school building, and believes that the finished work has “many branches of thought, some robust and some ephemeral and delicate”. The building was also inspired by skin folks and ruffled clothing, with the finished product looking like a modern paper bag.

The east-facing side of the building is covered in sandstone-coloured bricks as an homage to Sydney’s sandstone history, while large panels of glass adorn the West-side of the building to greet the sprawling, glass-laden Sydney skyline.

The building, designed by Canadian-born architect, Frank Gehry, is designed to educate “future captains of industry” according to the University of Technology Sydney.

“It is a building designed to encourage the sharing of ideas among students and staff alongside our industry and community partners,” said Professor Attila Brungs of UTS.

It’s named after the Australian-Chinese businessman and philanthropist, Dr Chau Chak Wing, and is one of the first buildings set to be unveiled at UTS this year. It’s a $1.2 billion project that will see a new graduate health and science building opening next month.

It will start to see students on 23 February, when the new semester kicks off.

No matter where you look, the building appears to be rippling, as if alive in the wind. Check out more below.

Inside

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America Is Already Planning To Regulate Business On The Moon

The US agency that regulates civil aviation in America is planning to use its framework for licensing space launches to licensing business on the moon, according to a scoop from Reuters this morning. Are we facing a lunar land grab? Not exactly.

The report takes the form of a letter from the Federal Aviation Agency to Bigelow Aerospace — a private company that has developed expandable living modules for the ISS and hopes to put inflatable, modular living stations on the moon and even Mars.

The letter, dated from December, is all about whether Bigelow would be able to claim the right to develop a habitat on a particular part of the moon — without any other mission or project interfering.

According to Reuters, the FAA says that Bigelow’s theoretical development would be protected. In its letter, the agency said it plans to leverage its “existing launch licensing authority to encourage private sector investments in space systems by ensuring that commercial activities can be conducted on a non-interference basis,” continuing, “we recognise the private sector’s need to protect its assets and personnel on the moon or on other celestial bodies.”

A Bigelow lunar habitat mockup

After all, the FAA does control how private companies launch craft into space. It would make sense that the agency plans to serve as a regulatory agency for exploration on celestial bodies and planets, too. A Bigelow exec told Reuters that the FAA’s letter “doesn’t mean that there’s ownership of the moon,” but that “it just means that somebody else isn’t licensed to land on top of you or land on top of where exploration and prospecting activities are going on, which may be quite a distance from the lunar station.”

The FAA already controls how American companies launch goods into space — in fact, we learned last year that Virgin Galactic doesn’t have an FAA permit to launch passengers yet. But does the agency have the right to do the same for the moon, based on international treaties? That remains unclear. As Reuters points out, a UN treaty from 1967 — the United Nations Outer Space treaty — is the main legal framework for “space law.” The treaty states that neither space nor celestial bodies are “subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means.” Obviously, that includes the moon, which would mean that other countries with space programs would probably object to US companies staking claims.

We’ll have to wait a few more years before we see this issue play out on the international stage — but it’s going to come up more and more often as private companies take to space. In fact, last year, io9 described one way in which our imperfect and incomplete “space law” is already falling short: asteroid mining by private American companies.