Stage 26.02

Smartphone fired into space to see if screams can be heard

A smartphone has been blasted into orbit from India by a team of researchers from the University of Surrey.

They hope to use a purpose-built app to test the theory, immortalised in the film Alien, that "in space no-one can hear you scream".

The phone will play out several of the screams submitted by people online.

The test will monitor the durability of standard commercial components in space.

It will also test two new innovative propulsion systems.

The first - named Warp Drive (Water Alcohol Resisto-jet Propulsion De-orbit Re-entry Velocity Experiment) - uses the ejection of a water-alcohol mixture to provide thrust.

The second technology is pulsed plasma thrusters. These use an electric current to heat and evaporate a material, producing a charged gas that can then be accelerated in one direction in a magnetic field to push the satellite in the other direction.

'Fantastic achievement'

The mission will see the so-called "smartphone-sat" - a world first - orbit the Earth for six months.

 

Weighing 4.3 kg (9.5lbs) and measuring 10cm by 30cm (4in by 12in), the satellite has been developed by the University of Surrey's Space Centre (SSC) and Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL).

"This mission is a fantastic achievement and a great tribute to the hard work of the engineers involved," said Sir Martin Sweeting, director of SSC, and also executive chairman of SSTL.

At first, the Strand-1 satellite will be controlled by a standard onboard computer, but in phase two of the mission, a Google Nexus phone will take the reins - equipped with a number of special apps.

One of them, iTesa, is to record the magnitude of the magnetic field around the phone during orbit.
The 360 app will take pictures using the phone's built-in five megapixel camera, and will act as a method of establishing the satellite's position.

Images captured by the app will be posted on Facebook.


Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21577780

Stage 18.01 other

US election: Women are the new majority

When Barack Obama signed the Lily Ledbetter fair pay act, which supported equal pay for women, his detractors called it pandering. When Republican candidates were caught making clumsy statements about rape and abortion, their supporters called the ensuing uproar a"distraction" from the real issues. But in this election, it became abundantly clear that women's issues are not fringe issues, and women are not a special interest group. Instead it was women who cast the bulk of the votes this election - 53%, and women who proved the deciding factor, breaking in Barack Obama's favour by 11 percentage points. At the same time, a historic number of female representative were elected, including the first openly gay senator (Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin), the first Asian-American female senator (Mazie Hirono, Hawaii) and the first female military veteran wounded in combat (Representative Tammy Duckworth, Illinois).

Stage 18.01

La journaliste est partie à la rencontre de l’Amérique profonde pour un documentaire réalisé à l’occasion de l’élection présidentielle du 6 novembre. Un road-movie qui lui a permis de découvrir des lieux insolites...

New York

Mon hôtel

Le Carlyle
« J’aime l’ambiance années 30 de ce palace. Woody Allen vient jouer tous les lundis soir avec The Eddy Davis New Orleans Jazz Band, sauf quand il tourne un film ! J’ai eu la chance de le voir, c’était extraordinaire. Woody n’est sans doute pas le plus grand clarinettiste du monde, il le dit lui-même, mais il prend un tel plaisir... »
35 East 76th Street. www.rosewoodhotels.com

Prendre un verre

The Blue Note Jazz Club
« Je connais assez peu le jazz mais, grâce au tournage à La Nouvelle- Orléans, j’ai vraiment découvert les Brass Bands (orchestre de cuivres et de percussions, NDLR) et je ne m’en suis pas encore remise. Sitôt arrivée à New York, je me suis précipitée dans ce club dont on m’avait parlé. Des stars comme Dizzy Gillespie y ont souvent joué ; les pointures d’aujourd’hui, comme le trompettiste Wynton Marsalis, ont pris le relais. »
131 West 3rd Street. www.bluenote.net

all objects

US election: Women are the new majority

When Barack Obama signed the Lily Ledbetter fair pay act, which supported equal pay for women, his detractors called it pandering. When Republican candidates were caught making clumsy statements about rape and abortion, their supporters called the ensuing uproar a"distraction" from the real issues. But in this election, it became abundantly clear that women's issues are not fringe issues, and women are not a special interest group. Instead it was women who cast the bulk of the votes this election - 53%, and women who proved the deciding factor, breaking in Barack Obama's favour by 11 percentage points. At the same time, a historic number of female representative were elected, including the first openly gay senator (Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin), the first Asian-American female senator (Mazie Hirono, Hawaii) and the first female military veteran wounded in combat (Representative Tammy Duckworth, Illinois).

all Iframe Obama

Barack Obama

When Barack Obama signed the Lily Ledbetter fair pay act, which supported equal pay for women, his detractors called it pandering. When Republican candidates were caught making clumsy statements about rape and abortion, their supporters called the ensuing uproar a"distraction" from the real issues. But in this election, it became abundantly clear that women's issues are not fringe issues, and women are not a special interest group. Instead it was women who cast the bulk of the votes this election - 53%, and women who proved the deciding factor, breaking in Barack Obama's favour by 11 percentage points. At the same time, a historic number of female representative were elected, including the first openly gay senator (Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin), the first Asian-American female senator (Mazie Hirono, Hawaii) and the first female military veteran wounded in combat (Representative Tammy Duckworth, Illinois).

Test transp and mosaic FR

La journaliste est partie à la rencontre de l’Amérique profonde pour un documentaire réalisé à l’occasion de l’élection présidentielle du 6 novembre. Un road-movie qui lui a permis de découvrir des lieux insolites...

New York

Mon hôtel

Le Carlyle
« J’aime l’ambiance années 30 de ce palace. Woody Allen vient jouer tous les lundis soir avec The Eddy Davis New Orleans Jazz Band, sauf quand il tourne un film ! J’ai eu la chance de le voir, c’était extraordinaire. Woody n’est sans doute pas le plus grand clarinettiste du monde, il le dit lui-même, mais il prend un tel plaisir... »
35 East 76th Street. www.rosewoodhotels.com

Prendre un verre

The Blue Note Jazz Club
« Je connais assez peu le jazz mais, grâce au tournage à La Nouvelle- Orléans, j’ai vraiment découvert les Brass Bands (orchestre de cuivres et de percussions, NDLR) et je ne m’en suis pas encore remise. Sitôt arrivée à New York, je me suis précipitée dans ce club dont on m’avait parlé. Des stars comme Dizzy Gillespie y ont souvent joué ; les pointures d’aujourd’hui, comme le trompettiste Wynton Marsalis, ont pris le relais. »
131 West 3rd Street. www.bluenote.net

Live test

Lance Armstrong dropped by Nike over doping evidence

Lance Armstrong has had his contract with sportswear giant Nike terminated.

Nike stated  that "due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that Armstrong participated in doping... we have terminated his contract".

Armstrong, 41, has also stepped down as chairman of his charity Livestrong.

The decisions come a week after the United States Anti-Doping Agencyreleased a report containing accusations of widespread doping by Armstrong and his teams.

It contains sworn statements from 26 witnesses, including 11 former team-mates.

Usada ordered 14 years of Armstrong's career results, including his seven Tour de France titles, to be erased. The former cyclist has always denied doping, but gave up his fight against the charges in August.

Nike, which added that it was "misled" by the American for more than a decade, made a U-turn on a statement released last week  when it said it would "continue to support Lance and the Lance Armstrong Foundation". Nike and Armstrong had been in partnership since 1996.

Armstrong also announced on Wednesday that he would be quitting his role as chairman of his cancer charity in order "to spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my cycling career".

The Texan will remain on Livestrong's 15-member board, with vice-chairman Jeff Garvey, who was founding chairman in 1997, taking over Armstrong's role.

Armstrong added: "As my cancer treatment was drawing to an end, I created a foundation to serve people affected by cancer.

"It has been a great privilege to help it grow from a dream into an organisation that today has served 2.5 million people and helped spur a cultural shift in how the world views cancer survivors."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/19978608