SABRE on course to chill SKYLON into orbit

SABRE on course to chill SKYLON into orbit: "Reaction Engines has announced that is has successfully tested the key pre-cooler component of its revolutionary SABRE engine crucial to the development of its SKYLON spaceplane. The company claims that craft equipped with SABRE engines will be able to fly to any destination on Earth in under 4 hours, or travel directly into space."

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FACE android conveys human emotions with facial expressions

FACE android conveys human emotions with facial expressions: "Introduced by Japan’s Masahiro Mori, the “Uncanny Valley” principle states that the more a humanoid robot strives and fails to mimic human appearance, the less appealing it is to humans. In yet another attempt to cross the valley, an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Pisa, Italy, endowed a female-form humanoid called FACE with a set of complex facial expression features. They did so in the hope of finding the answer to one fundamental question: can a robot express emotions?"

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Record-setting 500 trillion-watt laser shot achieved

Record-setting 500 trillion-watt laser shot achieved: "Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility (NIF) have achieved a laser shot which boggles the mind: 192 beams delivered an excess of 500 trillion-watts (TW) of peak power and 1.85 megajoules (MJ) of ultraviolet laser light to a target of just two millimeters in diameter. To put those numbers into perspective, 500 TW is more than one thousand times the power that the entire United States uses at any instant in time."

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New “spintronic” OLEDs join next-generation display technology mix

New “spintronic” OLEDs join next-generation display technology mix: "We’ve seen a number of next-generation display technologies emerge in recent years, such as Sony’s “Crystal LED,” Uni-Pixel’s time-multiplexed optical shutter (TMOS) technology, and quantum dot LED (QLED) display technology from LG and QD Vision, and now there’s another one to add to the mix."

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Dark matter filaments detected for the first time

Dark matter filaments detected for the first time: "For the first time, a team of astronomers has "observed" a filament of dark matter connecting two neighboring galaxy clusters. Dark matter is a type of matter that interacts only very weakly with light and itself."

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The Best Websites for Watching Free Documentaries - How-To Geek

The Best Websites for Watching Free Documentaries - How-To Geek: "If you’re a fan of documentaries, there are many sites where you can watch them for free. The following is a list of sites we found, some of which allow you add comments about the films and even allow you to download the films."

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For Shelby, 50 years of blowing other cars' doors off | Road Trip - CNET News

For Shelby, 50 years of blowing other cars' doors off | Road Trip - CNET News: "Its most famous car may be worth $25 million, and its cars can top 200 miles an hour. CNET Road Trip visits with the famous American muscle car maker."

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In pictures: Farnborough Airshow 2012

In pictures: Farnborough Airshow 2012: "The skies over Hampshire, England, may have been resolutely overcast, but there has been nothing dull about the spectacle of the biennial Farnborough International Airshow taking place in them this week. Crowds composed mostly of media, military and millionaires endured airport-style security checks to observe aerial displays from ear-piercing fighter jet fighters, enormous airliners and aeronautic display teams of dubious sanity."

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MIT develops new glasses-free 3D TV technology

MIT develops new glasses-free 3D TV technology: "hough 3D movies have been around for a while, the experience of visiting a cinema to catch the latest blockbuster is dampened by unwieldy glasses and the limitation of only one fixed perspective being offered to all. The illusion of depth is present, but this is far removed from the hologram-like, multiple-perspective experience which would truly wow movie-goers."

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A 100 percent solar-powered boat that cost under $3,000 to build!

A 100 percent solar-powered boat that cost under $3,000 to build!: "While it might not be the world’s largest solar boat or the fastest, this modest home-built solar-powered boat does the job and comfortably accommodates six passengers. Dubbed “Firefly,” it was built by Canadian eco-enthusiast Dan Baker for an impressive CA$2,900 (US$2,845)."

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Richard Branson lays out roadmap to put satellites, and his kids, into space

Richard Branson lays out roadmap to put satellites, and his kids, into space: "Richard Branson today set out the roadmap for Virgin Galactic's immediate future by announcing that he will be taking his children along for the ride when the SpaceShipTwo (SS2) makes its inaugural flight next year (should all go to plan). As expected, Branson also confirmed plans for a commercial service to put satellites in orbit at a tenth of today's costs, marking the resumption of Virgin Galactic's LauncherOne program."

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Yatoo concept turns your car into a camper with a tent, kitchen and bed

Yatoo concept turns your car into a camper with a tent, kitchen and bed: "The French-designed Yatoo is a camper concept that looks like a lighter version of the Swiss Roombox. The three-part system equips a standard car, truck or van with the essentials for wilderness living. Owners get room to sleep, live and cook while keeping much of the vehicle's interior cargo space."

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