Solar-powered aircraft makes inaugural flight

German test pilot Markus Scherdel steers the solar-powered
Solar Impulse 2 aircraft for its maiden flight at its base
in Payerne on June 2, 2014 (AFP Photo / Denis Balibouse)

RT | Jun 2, 2014 |

"An airplane like this is absolutely unique. And for the first time in history, we have an airplane that is flying with no fuel day and night, showing the incredible potential of the clean technologies - all these technologies that the world can also use in order to reduce the dependency to fossil fuel and to be cleaner and solve a lot of problems of pollution"

Ahead of its anticipated round-the-world trip scheduled for 2015, a solar-powered plane took its maiden voyage after an historic two-hour flight - yet more headway in developing aircraft that don’t need fossil fuel.

The Solar Impulse 2 aircraft, with German test pilot Markus Scherdel inside the cockpit, took off from an airfield in Payerne, Switzerland at 03:35 GMT (04:35 BST; 05:35 CEST), climbing to just over 6,000ft (1,800m).

The carbon-fiber aircraft, which was first displayed to the public on April 9, has a wingspan of 72 meters (236 ft) - wider than a Boeing 747 jumbo jet – and weighs just 2.4 tons. It contains more than 17,000 solar cells inserted on top of the wings, which allow the vehicle to achieve a maximum speed of 140km/h (90mph).

Scherdel reported some early vibrations inside the aircraft, but overall the inaugural test flight was considered a success, with the plane performing a number of maneuvers to prove aircraft handling.

Read more..

Disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 begins to demand supernatural explanations

© Natural News

Natural News | Mar 11, 2014 | Mike Adams

As the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 continues to absolutely baffle investigators, explanations for what might have happened to the flight have entered the realm of the supernatural. Astonishingly, the Washington Post is now reporting that smartphones of some passengers who boarded the flight are still active and connected to the 'net even though the plane they were on has vanished.

As WashPost reports:

One of the most eerie rumors came after a few relatives said they were able to call the cellphones of their loved ones or find them on a Chinese instant messenger service called QQ that indicated that their phones were still somehow online.

A migrant worker in the room said that several other workers from his company were on the plane, including his brother-in-law. Among them, the QQ accounts of three still showed that they were online, he said Sunday afternoon.

Adding to the mystery, other relatives in the room said that when they dialed some passengers' numbers, they seemed to get ringing tones on the other side even though the calls were not picked up.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/044260_Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_370_supernatural_explanations.html#ixzz2viGSQ87U

Strange details emerge about missing Malaysia Airlines plane

Next News Network | Mar 11, 2014 | CHANNEL

)
Transcript:

Mystery and questions surround the fate of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. All we really know is that the plane, a Boeing 777, took off from Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur, at 12:41 a.m, on Saturday, March 8th. The flight was scheduled to arrive in Beijing, at 6:30 a.m., a distance of approximately 2,700 miles. There were 12 crew members and 227 passengers. Two of the passengers, using stolen European passports, were two Iranian men, one of which was known to be seeking asylum in Germany.

Air Traffic Control lost contact with the plane as it was flying over the Gulf of Thailand between Malaysia and Vietnam.

Malaysian military said that the plane changed course from heading northeast to heading west, after Air Traffic Control lost contact. The military had tracked the plane in the Malacca Straits, flying at a lower altitude, close to Pulau Perak, at 2:40 a.m., before the signal was lost. This is more than 100 miles off the western shore of the Malaysian peninsula.

Officials have no idea what happened to the plane and can only speculate about what happened based on the lack of current evidence, while the internet is buzzing with theories that include the use of electronic weaponry that is keeping the plane hidden from radar or detection, and that the plane is being held in an abandoned hangar in Vietnam to be used for a possible future 9/11 style attack.

© LA Times

Other interesting facts and questions include:

Why the search for the plane was also taking place in the Andaman Sea, which was not anywhere near the location of where the plane had disappeared.

There was no distress signal or indication as to why the plane lost contact and reportedly disappeared from radar.

There is little being reported about the absence of the black box recorder which all Boeing 777 commercial jets are equipped with, and can survive any on-board explosion. They also transmit a locator signal for at least 30 days after falling into the ocean. The fact that the black box has not been detected at all means that the box has either vanished, malfunctioned or was obliterated by a very powerful source.

Many parts of a plane naturally float, and if the plane disintegrated, exploded, or was shot by a missile, it should not be difficult to find floating debris from the plane.

Based on the radar information we currently have, it is safe to assume that the plane was not shot down by a missile, or hijacked.

Family members of missing passengers are furious at officials. It has been reported by Chinese media that family members have been able to call the cellphones of missing passengers, the phones connect, but no one picks-up. If the phones are connecting it should be possible to track the location of the phone.

All that is really known about the fate of the plane and the people aboard, is that they vanished, no part of the plane or it's contents has yet been found, and family members eagerly await any actual news or evidence of what happened.

Dragonflies can see by switching 'on' and 'off'

A Tau Emerald dragonfly (Hemicordulia tau) in mid flight.
Credit: Fir0002/Flagstaffotos, via Wikimedia Commons

Dragonflies can see by switching 'on' and 'off'
Aug 15, 2013 | Phys.org

Researchers at the University of Adelaide have discovered a novel and complex visual circuit in a dragonfly's brain that could one day help to improve vision systems for robots.

Dr Steven Wiederman and Associate Professor David O'Carroll from the University's Centre for Neuroscience Research have been studying the underlying processes of insect vision and applying that knowledge in robotics and artificial vision systems.

Their latest discovery, published this month in The Journal of Neuroscience, is that the brains of dragonflies combine opposite pathways - both an ON and OFF switch - when processing information about simple dark objects.

"To perceive the edges of objects and changes in light or darkness, the brains of many animals, including insects, frogs, and even humans, use two independent pathways, known as ON and OFF channels," says lead author Dr Steven Wiederman.

"Most animals will use a combination of ON switches with other ON switches in the brain, or OFF and OFF, depending on the circumstances. But what we show occurring in the dragonfly's brain is the combination of both OFF and ON switches. This happens in response to simple dark objects, likely to represent potential prey to this aerial predator.

"Although we've found this new visual circuit in the dragonfly, it's possible that many other animals could also have this circuit for perceiving various objects," Dr Wiederman says.

Watch Video

The researchers were able to record their results directly from 'target-selective' neurons in dragonflies' brains. They presented the dragonflies with moving lights that changed in intensity, as well as both light and dark targets.

"We discovered that the responses to the dark targets were much greater than we expected, and that the dragonfly's ability to respond to a dark moving target is from the correlation of opposite contrast pathways: OFF with ON," Dr Wiederman says.

"The exact mechanisms that occur in the brain for this to happen are of great interest in visual neurosciences generally, as well as for solving engineering applications in target detection and tracking. Understanding how visual systems work can have a range of outcomes, such as in the development of neural prosthetics and improvements in robot vision.

"A project is now underway at the University of Adelaide to translate much of the research we've conducted into a robot, to see if it can emulate the dragonfly's vision and movement. This project is well underway and once complete, watching our autonomous dragonfly robot will be very exciting," he says.

Colorado town considers hunting licenses, bounties for drones

AFP Photo / John Moore

Colorado town considers hunting licenses, bounties for drones
July 17, 2013 | RT

A small town in the state of Colorado is currently weighing a new ordinance that would allow the issuance of hunting licenses for unmanned aerial vehicles, and even offer bounties for their successful takedown.

Deer Trail, a town of some 540 residents that lies 55 miles east of Denver, has drafted what might be described as hostile regulation aimed at drones, outlining the weapons, ammunition, rules of engagement and bounties involved with drone hunting, reports Denver broadcaster ABC 7News.

"The Town of Deer Trail shall issue a reward of $100 to any shooter who presents a valid hunting license and the following identifiable parts of an unmanned aerial vehicle whose markings and configuration are consistent with those used on any similar craft known to be owned or operated by the United States federal government,” reads the ordinance draft.

Read more..
 

Comment: All militant aircraft are being converted to UAVs, or unmanned aerial vehicles, as one crashed in Florida today, in a state they are supposedly outlawed. Looks like there will be plenty of targets.

EFF Launches Full-Court Press To Bust Podcasting Patent

image

EFF Launches Full-Court Press To Bust Podcasting Patent
May 30, 2013 | Electronic Frontier Foundation

Campaign Will Use Crowd-Power and New Law to Invalidate Patent Trolls’ Claim

San Francisco - The patent trolls have gone far enough: Starting today, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is mounting a new, focused campaign to bust the dangerous patent that a Texas company has been using to shakedown podcasters. EFF intends to challenge the original grant of that patent before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by proving that the company, Personal Audio, did not really invent anything new.

Claiming it owns the patent that broadly covers podcasting technology, Personal Audio is the classic example of a patent troll that neither makes nor sells anything, but uses its patent as a weapon to threaten lawsuits and extort settlement fees. This particular troll has bullied prominent podcasts and podcasters, including How Stuff Works and Adam Carolla, in addition to smaller podcasters working out of their own homes.

"Patent trolls have been wreaking havoc on innovative companies for some time now," said EFF Staff Attorney Julie Samuels, who also holds the Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents. "But this particular breed of troll—targeting end users, small businesses, startups, and even individuals like podcasters for simply using everyday products—is a disturbing new threat."

EFF is partnering with the Cyberlaw Clinic at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society to use a new legal tool against this patent called the "inter partes review," which was introduced by the America Invents Act. The first step is to identify "prior art," or published examples of similar or identical ideas, that existed before October 2, 1996. EFF is putting out a call today to the podcasting community to spread the word and help us collect the prior art we need to fight this dangerous patent. EFF is also looking for financial support to take on this challenge, which—even with pro bono help—will likely cost nearly $30,000.

"A podcaster working out of a garage is unlikely to have the financial resources to fight a lawsuit," said EFF Staff Attorney Daniel Nazer. "Patent trolls like Personal Audio know this and use the threat of ruinous litigation costs as a weapon. Defeating this patent at the PTO would put an end to Personal Audio's campaign."

Because of the deep and systemic problems in the American patent system, EFF is spearheading the Defend Innovation project to advocate for reform. EFF is asking the public to sign on to our petition at defendinnovation.org and to comment on seven recommended proposals we think would make the broken system work better for software. In the meantime, EFF is doing its best to rid the world of one more bad patent in the hands of a patent troll and help out podcasters who find themselves staring down the barrel of a gun.

For more on the Save Podcasting campaign:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/05/help-save-podcasting

For technical details of the search for prior art:
http://patents.stackexchange.com/questions/3884/call-for-prior-art-system-for-disseminating-media-content-representing-episodes

Donate to fund this campaign:
https://supporters.eff.org/donate/save-podcasting

Julie Samuels
   Staff Attorney and The Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents
   Electronic Frontier Foundation
   julie@eff.org

Daniel Nazer
   Staff Attorney
   Electronic Frontier Foundation
   daniel@eff.org

FAA Issues No-Fly Zone Over Exxon Pipeline Spill

FAA Issues No-Fly Zone Over Exxon Pipeline Spill
Apr 4, 2013 | Activist Post

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) moved quickly to block the media from seeing the full extent of the damage caused by the Exxon oil pipeline spill in Arkansas.

After some local news stations managed to get some breaking news images from a flyover of the area, the FAA issued a "Notice to Airmen" or NOTAM to stop all air traffic from the area.

Image source: KcenTV.com

Here is the official announcement:

FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS MAYFLOWER, AR. EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. PURSUANT TO 14 CFR SECTION 91.137(A)(1) TEMPORARY FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT FOR OIL PIPELINE RUPTURE ONLY RELIEF AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS UNDER DIRECTION OF TOM SUHRHOFF ARE AUTHORIZED IN THE AIRSPACE AT AND BELOW 1000 FEET AGL WITHIN A 5 NAUTICAL MILE RADIUS OF 345855N/0922642W OR THE LITTLE ROCK /LIT/ VORTAC 319 DEGREE RADIAL AT 22.4 NAUTICAL MILES.

Here is the map of the area provided by the FAA:

Since the Sandy Hook flyover footage was so heavily scrutinized, the media and the FAA are beginning to make it a habit of blocking the public from seeing what's really going on on the ground in real time from disasters.

During the Lone Star Community College shooting in January, the media was told to cut the live aerial feeds of the event.  Now we have the FAA issuing this NOTAM to prevent the public from seeing what's really happening in Arkansas.



 The nonstop news coverage of the Gulf Oil Spill must have caused too much bad press for BP, and Exxon appears to want to stave off any negative press.

Would the FAA be complicit in an Exxon cover-up?

Read other articles by Activist Post Here

Clever solution to stop the TSA from stealing valuable electronics out of your carry-on bag

Clever solution to stop the TSA from stealing valuable electronics out of your carry-on bag
Jan 8, 2013 | TheHealthRanger