Dec 24

World’s Largest Amphibious Aircraft Completes Maiden Flight

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“Kunlong” or the AG600 is China’s home-grown amphibious aircraft. It’s said to be the world’s largest amphibious aircraft in production. The AG600 has now completed its maiden flight. It took off from the city of Zhuhai in southern China and landed after about an hour. It took to the skies earlier today to complete its long-awaited maiden flight, according to state news agency Xinhua.

The Kunlong has a wingspan of 28.8 meters and it relies on four turboprop engines for power. It can carry 50 people and has the capability to stay airborne for 12 hours.

“Its successful maiden flight makes China among the world’s few countries capable of developing a large amphibious aircraft,” said chief designer Huang Lingcai.

This aircraft is roughly the same size of the Boeing 737 and is much smaller than the Spruce Goose, a flying boat that billionaire aviator Howard Hughes had developed. It had a wingspan of 97 meters and was 67 meters long. It only made a brief flight back in 1947.

While reports claim that this amphibious aircraft has military applications, it will be used for marine rescue and firefighting efforts. According to a report by the state media, at least 17 orders for the Kunlong have been placed so far with Aviation Industry Corp of China, the state-owned manufacturer of this amphibious aircraft.

World’s Largest Amphibious Aircraft Completes Maiden Flight , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

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Dec 24

SpaceX Completes Record 18th Successful Launch Of 2017

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It has been a good year for SpaceX, Elon Musk’s space company. SpaceX has completed its 18th launch of the year. It has set a new record for a private space company. The company’s previous best was 10 successful launches in a calendar year and it has bested that by quite a margin in 2017.

SpaceX’s launch yesterday was for its client Iridium. The payload delivered 10 satellites to low Earth orbit for Iridium’s NEXT communications constellation. This is the fourth mission of its kind that SpaceX has flown for this client.

The rocket that was used for this launch was a flight proven Falcon 9. What that means is that this rocket has previously been to space. Its last mission was back in June and that was also for Iridium.

Iridium also happened to be the client for SpaceX’s first mission of this year back in January. It was a crucial time for the company as it recovered from a pre-launch accident that resulted in the loss of a rocket and the payload which included a Facebook internet satellite.

SpaceX launched its 18th mission of the year from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. A rocket recovery of the first stage wasn’t included in the mission parameters.

The company is now hoping to launch its first Falcon Heavy rocket next month. It’s being readied for launch currently at the Cape Canaveral Air Force base in Florida.

SpaceX Completes Record 18th Successful Launch Of 2017 , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

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Dec 24

Two Dave Chappelle Netflix Specials Will Be Released On December 31st

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Many Dave Chappelle fans were excited when we confirmed recently that his third Netflix special is going to be released on December 31st. Fans are really going to like this. It turns out there are two new specials that are going to be released in the coming days. Dave Chappelle: Equanimity is the special that was previously announced. According to a report, there’s a fourth special as well which is also going to be a Netflix exclusive.

It was confirmed last month that Dave Chappelle: Equanimity is going to be released for Netflix exclusively on December 31st. It’s the first comedy special that Chappelle made exclusively for the streaming service.

Netflix had confirmed last year that it would host three specials from Chappelle. The first two included unreleased material from the shows that he performed at the Hollywood Palladium and Austin City Limits. They were released on Netflix in March.

Netflix has been working with some of the biggest names in stand-up comedy to offer more content to its subscribers. It has created specials with iconic performers like Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock.

The Bird Revelation is the name of the fourth Dave Chappelle special that’s headed to Netflix on December 31st. It happens to be exclusive to Netflix as well.

Two Dave Chappelle Netflix Specials Will Be Released On December 31st , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

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Dec 24

Shoes With Lasers Help Parkinson’s Patients Tackle Gait Freezing

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Gait freezing is one of the possible symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. It’s when the person is unable to take a step even when they’re willing to take a step forward. They’re unable to move for the duration of the freeze and that’s really inconvenient for them. It may even cause them to lose their balance and fall over. The University of Twente’s Murielle Ferraye has found that shoes with lasers can help these patients tackle gait freezing.

A person may be able to break out of a gait freeze by attempting to concentrate on something near their feet that they can either step towards or over. It may be a crack in the sidewalk or just a floorboard.

However, it’s not always possible to have something like this available to concentrate on. It will surely be very helpful if these patients were able to summon such a feature on demand that can help them tackle gait freezing.

This is where the shoes with lasers come in. Each shoe has a laser projection device that projects a laser up to 18 inches ahead. The user can then try to step toward this line in order to break out of their gait freeze. The laser only projects when the foot is resting and doesn’t do that when the shoe is in motion.

A study was conducted and it revealed that 21 Parkinson’s patients found that their incidents of gait freezing were reduced by nearly half after using these shoes. The duration of their freezes was also cut by more than half.

Many of the patients that took part in the study were more than happy to wear the shoes on a daily basis. They also didn’t mind that the line was projected by the shoes even when they were not experiencing gait freezing.

Ferraye has now said that future work on this idea is going to involve making the laser activate only when a gait freeze is detected.

Shoes With Lasers Help Parkinson’s Patients Tackle Gait Freezing , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

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Dec 24

Deer At ‘Santa’s Journey’ Exhibit in Ireland Picked Off By Cruel Poachers

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“Like shooting fish in a barrel,” said the display’s manager.

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Dec 24

2017 Was Mexico’s Deadliest Year On Record

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23,101 murder investigations were launched in the year’s first 11 months.

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Dec 24

Amazon Video execs make the jump to Apple

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It appears Apple is continuing to make progress in bolstering its original programming division. As part of their ambitious plans to create and offer original shows and other video content, Cupertino has managed to poach not one but three executives from leading rival Amazon Studios, including the head of Amazon’s kids programming, Tara Sorensen. Since joining Amazon in 2012, Sorensen … Continue reading

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Dec 24

The best gadgets of 2017

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2017 hasn’t been the easiest year to live through, but we’ve found joy and comfort in some of the hardware we’ve tested over the last 12 months. Last year, we saw VR surge in prominence, but our picks this year are more conventional — not to mention…

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Dec 24

Qualcomm Rejects Broadcom Director Nominees

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You may have heard that Broadcom submitted a formal acquisition bid for Qualcomm last month. It made an unsolicited $130 billion bid for the chipmaker even though Qualcomm hasn’t been looking for buyers. Qualcomm predictably rejected the bid. Amid reports that the stakeholders were willing to consider a sale if the price was raised, Qualcomm’s board has decided to reject the 11 director nominees picked by Broadcom and private-equity firm Silver Lake Partners.

Broadcom Chief Executive Hock Tan has also said that the company is open to a takeover battle. He previously confirmed that Broadcom would submit nominations for new directors by Qualcomm’s December 8th deadline.

Qualcomm’s governance committed has rejected all the nominees put forward by Broadcom and Silver Lake Partners. The company said in a statement that “These nominees are inherently conflicted given Broadcom’s desire to acquire Qualcomm in a manner that dramatically undervalues Qualcomm to Broadcom’s benefit.”

Qualcomm has also confirmed that its board has nominated the 11 incumbent direcotrs for re-election at the company’s 2018 Annual Meeting. It added that the existing board has a deep understanding of the global IP/licensing and semiconductor business, and that the board has overseen the design and execution of Qualcomm’s strategy.

“Qualcomm’s Board remains focused on driving profitable growth and maximizing value for all stockholders,” the company added.

Qualcomm Rejects Broadcom Director Nominees , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

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Dec 24

Alphabet’s Eric Schmidt Steps Down As Executive Chairman

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Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has confirmed that Eric Schmidt is stepping down as the company’s executive chairman. He will relinquish his role as of the next regular board meeting that’s due next month. He’s going to be transitioning into his new role of “technical advisor.” He will serve the company as a technical advisor while continuing to serve on its board.

Schmidt has a long association with Google. He has been with the company for almost two decades and even served as Google’s CEO from August 2001 to April 2011. He then assumed the office of the executive chairman of Google and continued the role when the company was reorganized into Alphabet back in October 2015.

“Larry, Sergey, Sundar and I all believe that the time is right in Alphabet’s evolution for this transition. The Alphabet structure is working well, and Google and the Other Bets are thriving,” Schmidt said, adding that he plans to expand is work in the areas of science and technology issues as well as philanthropy.

Alphabet’s official press release didn’t really detail any reason as to why Schmidt is going to step down as the company’s executive chairman. A Wall Street Journal report mentions that this move has been talked about in the company for about a year.

Alphabet’s Eric Schmidt Steps Down As Executive Chairman , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.

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