A virtual reality “space ride” in which viewers feel as if they are flying through the air inside a giant glass ball has been developed in Japan. (AFP Video) https://youtu.be/5SLty9acjMA
Sci-Tech
Ghanaian teen builds video search engine to rival YouTube
ACCRA, Ghana (Reuters) — Ghanaian university student Gabriel Opare wanted to build a search engine that could challenge the dominance of YouTube. The 19-year-old taught himself how to code by taking online courses in his free time. He is currently a full-time student of Sociology at the University of Ghana, in Accra. In his quest to rival Google – the world’s most popular search engine, Opare developed Mudclo – a free search engine for videos. […]
Wheelchair prototype lets users ‘lean in’ to turn
LONDON, United Kingdom (Reuters) — A new wheelchair system that allows paraplegics to maneuver by using their upper body movement rather than through breaking and pushing has been designed by a student. Swiss design graduate Reto Togni showed off his Reagiro wheelchair at the Royal College of Art (RCA) graduate exhibition in London in June. Togni told Reuters: “Conventional wheelchairs work the same way as shopping carts, with casters that rotate in every direction. With […]
Combining origami with modular robotics
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (Reuters) — Mori combines origami robots and reconfigurable, modular robots, a unique marriage say its creators at Switzerland’s École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). Current origami robots consist of thin structures that can be folded into a single robot that changes shape. In modular robotics, by contrast, multiple individual robots are used, but are bulkier and more complex. Origami robots are restricted by both the size and folding pattern of the sheet used […]
Wheelchair prototype lets users ‘lean in’ to turn
(Reuters) — A new wheelchair system that allows paraplegics to manoeuvre by using their upper body movement rather than through breaking and pushing has been designed by a student. Swiss design graduate Reto Togni showed off his Reagiro wheelchair at the Royal College of Art (RCA) graduate exhibition in London in June. Togni told Reuters: “Conventional wheelchairs work the same way as shopping carts, with casters that rotate in every direction. With this wheelchair one […]
Russia launches 73 satellites into orbit
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — An imaging satellite and 72 micro-satellites were launched into orbit Friday from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Russian space agency Roscosmos and research center Glavcosmos announced. The Soyuz 2-1A rocket successfully lifted off at 0643 GMT with the satellite payload, Roscosmos said in a statement. According to Russian news agencies, Glavcosmos, charged with putting the satellites into orbit, later reported that by 1441 GMT all the satellites had successfully separated. […]
5-seater solar car going for glory
EINDHOVEN, Netherlands (Reuters) — A student solar racing car team says its newly-created five-seater model has two purposes – to win the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) its third successive Bridgestone World Solar Challenge (WSC) and to make sun-powered vehicles sexy. Solar Team Eindhoven’s Stella Vie has fewer solar panels than its previous four-seater models – Stella and Stella Lux – but spokesperson Beatrix Bos insists this is no problem. “Even though we have one […]
Study finds our Sun is like other stars, resolving mystery
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Our Sun is much like other stars, and not an anomaly because of its magnetic poles that flip every 11 years, scientists said Thursday. The report in the journal Science aims to lay to rest the controversy over whether our solar system’s star is cyclic, like other nearby, solar-type stars. “We have shed light on a fundamental mechanism which determines the length of these cycles, which helps us understand the […]
Apple unveils iCloud data center in China as cyber laws tightened
SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — Apple has unveiled plans to build a data center in China to store its local iCloud customers’ personal details, marking the first such move by a foreign technology firm following the imposition of strict new cyber-security laws in the country. The United States titan said it was partnering with an internet service provider in southwestern Guizhou province on the project, which will “improve the speed and reliability of our products and […]
Hyperloop startup moves closer to near-supersonic rail
SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — United States startup Hyperloop One on Wednesday announced the first successful full-systems test of its near-supersonic rail transit system. The test took place in May at the company’s development track in the Nevada desert near Las Vegas, and involved a vehicle coasting above tracks for slightly more than five seconds using magnetic levitation, according to the startup. The test vehicle accelerated to a speed of 70 miles (112 kilometers) […]
Google escapes 1.1 billion euro tax bill in France
PARIS, France (AFP) — Google is not liable for 1.115 billion euros ($1.272 billion) in unpaid taxes claimed by the French state, a French court ruled Wednesday, saying the internet giant’s Irish subsidiary is not taxable in France. “The French company Google Ireland Limited (GIL) is not taxable in France for the 2005 to 2010 period,” the court ruled. Google paid just 6.7 million euros in corporate taxes in 2015 in France by booking revenues […]
NASA releases new images of raging storm on Jupiter
MIAMI, United States (AFP) –The National Aeronautics and Space Administration on Wednesday released a series of stunning images of a raging storm on Jupiter, known as the Great Red Spot, snapped earlier this week as an unmanned probe zipped by. The US space agency’s Juno spacecraft flew over the storm late Monday, offering humanity’s closest look yet at the iconic feature of our solar system’s largest planet. “For hundreds of years scientists have been observing, […]
