Hasta La Gadget!

Google announced today that it’s throwing $55 million dollars to the wind… energy, that is. A post to the official Google blog said the company has invested the aforementioned amount in the Alta Wind Energy Center, which is set to generate 1,550 megawatts of energy — enough to reportedly power 450,000 homes — from a batch of turbines in the Mojave Dessert. Developed by Terra-Gen Power, the operation will carry the resulting energy via transmission lines to “major population centers.” The ever-humble internet giant pointed out that this particular injection of funds marks a total investment of $400 million in the clean energy sector. In fact, El Goog signed a deal last year to power several of its data centers with wind power, and most recently announced the opening of a seawater-cooled data center in Finland.

Google backs Alta Wind Energy Center, boasts $400 million clean energy milestone originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 May 2011 08:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Physorg  |  Google  | Email this | Comments

More than a year after it first lost contact with its Mars rover Spirit, NASA has finally decided to throw in the towel. Yesterday, the agency confirmed that it will end all planned communications with the robot on May 25th, effectively ending the craft’s seven-year mission. NASA was hoping that the approaching Martian spring would allow the Spirit to recharge its solar panels and re-establish radio contact, but it now appears that the craft sustained irreparable damage last winter, when it was forced to endure brutally cold temperatures. NASA executive David Lavery, however, says the rover team will remember the Spirit more for its achievements than its slow demise:

“I think we’ll all sit around and have a sip of Guinness and reminisce about when Spirit was a wee small little rover and look back at the accomplishments and successes rover had over its entire lifetime.”

So the Spirit’s spirit will live on, but what about NASA’s mission to Mars? Well, the Opportunity is still in good health and, later this year, will be joined by the next-generation, nuclear-powered rover Curiosity, which will investigate whether or not Mars ever supported life forms. Meanwhile, NASA’s network of orbiting spacecraft will continue to passively listen for signals from the Spirit, just in case it miraculously comes back to life. Full PR after the break.

Continue reading NASA abandons Mars rover Spirit, chooses to remember the good times

NASA abandons Mars rover Spirit, chooses to remember the good times originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 May 2011 07:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Space.com  | Email this | Comments

Say what you will about Samsung’s questionable chaebol business practices and KIRFy ways, at least the company’s got the stones to openly target a specific demographic with its marketing pitches. This time Sammy’s new AF315 All-in-One PC is targeting stylish and sophisticated women who’ve moved on from their pink peddle pusher ways. The most notable features are that big 23-inch LCD coupled with Samsung’s switchable active shutter 2D / 3D technology and narrow 11-mm bezel. Otherwise, we’re looking at a Core i5 CPU, 1TB 7200RPM hard disk, USB 3.0, TV receiver, Blu-ray player, remote control, 3D glasses, and a wireless keyboard and mouse combo in the box when this thing ships in South Korea starting tomorrow for 2.19 million won or just a tad less than $2,000.

Samsung’s AF315 All-in-One 3D PC targets the sophisticated woman and those who aspire to be one originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 May 2011 07:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Samsung  | Email this | Comments

The Noise Snare is just that — a trap to catch drivers of excessively noisy cars and motorbikes and prove to the world (or maybe just the cops) that they spend their travel time ripping a ragged hole in the peace of other city dwellers.

The trap is simple. A microphone detects loud vehicles and starts a camera which records both video and stereo sound. The driver and his license plate can be read from the footage, and the whole lot used as evidence. The invention, by SNR Systems, works equally well at night and takes pressure off traffic cops, who might not have time to enforce noise laws as they’re too busy harassing cyclists.

I love it, although for me it would be rather pointless. I live in an almost car free part of the old town, where the narrow streets make anything bigger than a bike impractical. The downside of this is that you live stacked up with your neighbors with mere feet between your open windows. What I need is a detector for the kids torturing their baby brother in the flat below, or the old smoker who spends a half hour every morning trying to cough a slimy tar-ball from the depths of his throat.

Noise Snare [Street Noise Reduction Systems via The Giz]

See Also:

• Cities Removing Red-Light Cameras To Increase Traffic Ticket …
• Njection Brings Speed Trap and Red Light Data to Your GPS
• Swedish Speed-Camera Pays Drivers to Slow Down

This Swedish vending machine lets you pay via SMS. Photo Charlie Sorrel

Vending machines. Who doesn’t love them? And the undisputed world champion of the vending machine is Japan, where you can buy pretty much anything with the drop of a coin or the swipe of a cellphone. But whilst you can buy anything from iPods to marijuana to umbrellas, can you actually survive on the mean streets of Tokyo without once buying sustenance from another human being?

That’s what reporter Tom Edwards wanted to find out, so he set out with two friends to spend 24 hours buying anything they needed from vending machines.

What won’t surprise you is that the challenge wasnt’ really a challenge. If you want something in Japan, you can get it from a vending machine. What is interesting is the breadth of choice, and some of the gimmicks. Sure, you can buy cheesecake, ice-cream, miso soup and the horrifying-sounding cheese curry, but you can also buy gold (real gold) and even a hotel room for the night.

My favorite machine, though, is one of the first that Tom and his team encountered. It sells beverages, but it uses a camera to take a picture of you, combines this with temperature, your perceived age and even the time of day to suggest a drink for you. Tom and his friends decide to mess with it by wearing a hockey mask and a false beard.

Perhaps the best part of this entire escapade is a little bit of trivia Tom learned from Takashi Kurosaki, the boss of the Japan Vending Machine Manufacturers Association. He explains that vending machines in Japan took of in 1967. This was when expensive silver ¥100 coins were replaced with copper ¥100 coins. This meant there were a lot more ¥100 coins around, and vending machines switched to allowing ¥100 coins instead of requiring multiple ¥10 coins. This made them a lot more convenient.

Lastly, there was one essential thing Tom and team couldn’t find in a machine. Beer. This final point surely marks the whole endeavor as a failure.

How to Live off of Japanese Vending Machines [Maximum Tech. Thanks, Jon!]

See Also:

• Bike Inner-Tube Vending Machine
• The World's Weirdest Vending Machines
• Pennsylvania Wine Vending Machine Has Kafka-esque Security …
• Vending Machines Test Mental Agility