TUMBLEWEED MINE SWEEPER

In the post-conflict tumult of foreign battlefields, unexploded landmines are known to lie dormant for decades, often killing any innocent civilians who eventually contact them. Now, a former Afghan refugee has developed a low-cost, wind powered land mine detonator as part of an effort to clear live munitions from the deserts of Kabul. Massoud Hassani’s Mine Kafon is an approximately human sized and weighted sphere made of light bamboo shafts, each capped with a rubber pad built to enable rolling and condense any triggered explosions. At the core of the Kafon is an iron sphere containing a GPS mechanism that charts the route the Kafon has traveled, allowing operators to mark exact areas as definitively “cleared”. Each device is built to function with missing legs, allowing a Kafon to detonate 3 or 4 landmines during each round of use.

http://minekafon.org/minekafonprototypes/

#MineFinder #SafetyFirst #RefugeeRescues

BYE-BYE VINES

The inevitable gardening of Vine, initiated by Twitter’s purchase of the short-form video hosting service, has occurred. Vine users who failed to download their videos are now without means to claim their files, but can still stream their creations from Vine.co (third-party apps do exist however that allow users to capture streaming video, such as development house Static Z’s Iris). In September of 2016, Twitter announced it had acquired Vine and would be integrating its functions into its own platform, but would keep the Vine app active as Vine Camera, a tool to capture video loops for upload to Twitter. Vine was originally designed to compete with other visual social media apps like Instagram and Mobli, and by December 2015, its user base had grown to 200 million active users.

Twitter Shuts Vine Down

http://mashable.com/2016/10/27/vine-shut-down/#hCzF5WrN1mqL

#SnipSnip #VineSeason #GoingGoingGone

MOTORBIKE BALANCE TECHNOLOGY

During the Consumer Technology Association’s annual CES show, Honda unveiled its newest assistive transport technology, and for the first time in a long time, the self-transport feature wasn’t automobile related. Instead, the Honda Riding Assist is a motorcycle frame-stability aid designed to keep bikes upright with minimal effort from riders. The new system looks to significantly reduce the risk of a rider falling over while in motion, one of the major causes of motorcycle accidents. Integrated advancements from the brand’s ASIMO robot and self-balancing UNI-CUB scooter are said to inform the logistics of the new Riding Assist mechanism. Though a full presentation was provided at CES and schematics were presented, details as to when the technology will debut on Honda bikes is unknown.

Motorcycle.com Riding Assist Feature

http://www.motorcycle.com/manufacturer/honda/honda-riding-assist-technology-lets-motorcycles-balance-themselves.html

#BikerBalance #NoSwerveSeating #OpenRoad

SPACEX SUCCESS

In their first mission since last year’s launchpad explosion, Elon Musk’s SpaceX has successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket into space, carrying 10 communications satellites for deposit into orbit. These devices are the first replacements for the Iridium Communications satellites, a set which have been in orbit nearly for nearly twenty years. Over the next year, SpaceX expects to stage six more Falcon 9 missions, carrying 60 additional Iridium builds into orbit, and completing replacement of the entire satellite constellation. The successful launch is a much-needed break for SpaceX, who faced heavy criticism after a botched October 2016 mission destroyed both the rocket and its payload, a $200 million Israeli global internet satellite developed in conjunction with Facebook.    

SpaceX Main Page

http://www.spacex.com

#Musk2020 #SpaceXReturns #FeaturingTheFuture

THE TIGHTEST KNOT

Scientists at the University of Manchester in England have successfully tied the tightest knot in the history of mankind—a molecular, circular triple helix, 192 atoms long, containing eight cross-points. The record-setting knot was assembled using a process known as self-assembly, wherein molecular building blocks are blended with metal and chloride ions, enabling the tying of many knots simultaneously. While this all may sound like a mere footnote for the record books, the methods used to tie the knot could be used to create lighter, more flexible and more resilient materials for usage in everyday life. Kevlar, a super-plastic made of parallel molecular rods, and Spider Silk, a polymer double the strength of steel, are two examples of such modern super-materials.

TechTimes: How They Did It

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/192618/20170113/scientists-tie-the-tightest-knot-ever-heres-how-they-did-it.htm