As reported on Wired. BY DAMON LAVRINC The first Lamborghini was not a low-slung, overpowered sports car that looked like sex on wheels. It was a tractor, and a damn fine one at that. The man who built it, Ferruccio Lamborghini, was a perpetual malcontent who was never quite happy with anything, including the fleet of Ferraris he amassed as his wealth grew. He considered them loud and unrefined, brutish racecars haphazardly adapted for the…
As reported on The Verge. By Carl Franzen Discovery of new planets in habitable zones is most promising yet in four-year quest Late last week, NASA announced that scientists using its Kepler space observatory had discovered two new planetary systems thousands of light years away from our own. Within these, seven new planets were found, and three of them are located in the sweet spot around their stars that makes it not too hot, nor too cold, for liquid water…
As reported on TechCrunch. by GREGORY FERENSTEIN Some of the nation’s young brainiacs were honored today at the annual White House Science Fair. Every spring, the White House invites children to show off life-changing innovations that have mostly been constructed in MacGyver-like fashion from commercially available materials. Even though I cover this story every year, it’s hard not to be inspired by brilliant young kids motivated to tackle the world’s problems. “Let me just say in my official…
As reported on TechCrunch. by DARRELL ETHERINGTON Google Now is one of the best things to happen to Android in a while, and now new code discovered in a sample page taken from Google itself suggests it could arrive on the desktop, not just via Chrome but through the Google homepage itself. Code snippets includeprovisions for letting a user set their home and work location, “Discover Google now” and change their current location, all in support of…
As reported on TechCrunch. by DARRELL ETHERINGTON Leap Motion’s gesture-based controller launch is less than a month away, but so far we’ve heard relatively little about app support, besides the fact that the company is working hard on filling out its Airspace app store. Now, Leap Motion and Google are announcing support for Google Earth for Leap Motion tech, which will be built-in to the desktop Google Earth app for Windows, Mac and Linux as of version…
As reported on Engadget. By Zachary Lutz Fisker just can’t catch a break. As if enduring the layoffs of three out of every four employees and the resignation of its founder wasn’t unsettling enough, it’s now come to light that the Department of Energy recently confiscated the company’s $21 million reserve account in an attempt to recoup some of the government’s loan. Fisker’s first payment on the $192 million federal loan was due Monday, but the Energy Department revealed that it actually took the…
As reported on Engadget. By Mat Smith ARM has had a great quarter — again. This time it’s seen pre-tax profits soar 44 percent, while revenues are up 26 percent (to $209.4 million) since the same period last year. The company’s thanking the continued adoption of its low-power chip designs, encompassing smartphones, mobile computing and even digital TVs and wearable tech. The advanced tech within its ARMv8, Mali and big.LITTLE ranges has meant the company can command…
As reported on Engadget. By Richard Lawler The FIA’s upcoming Formula E series has revealed two US dates on its début 2014 calendar (Los Angeles, Miami) and yesterday it took to LA’s streets to promote the partnership. For Earth Day, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa welcomed Formula E Holdings CEO Alejandro Agag downtown along with a Formula E racecar for the exhibition. The race will run on downtown streets next year, although the exact route the 140mph-capable EVs will take has yet…