The BBC reported a Jordanian politician threatened an opponent with a gun on live TV. No shots were fired and no one was hurt. Before pulling out the gun, the man threw a shoe at the other candidate. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/07/07/jordanian-politicial-brandishes-gun/
A pilot practices flying his "quadcopter" drone while wearing goggles connected to the small camera seen at the bottom center of the craft.Image: Mel Evans/Associated Press An unidentified drone flew dangerously close the flightpath at Vancouver’s international airport on Monday, prompting a search by police. The drone was flying over a runway when someone at air traffic control spotted it, according to local reports. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police searched the area, setting up road blocks, but were unable to find the pilot of the drone. The police said they might press charges for mischief and criminal negligence, if they do. “It puts people in danger and puts them at risk, puts the community at risk,” RCMP Sgt. Cam Kowalski said, according to CBC. “It’s incredibly dangerous and incredibly stupid, so we will investigate this every way that we possibly can.” This is the second time in less than a year that a drone has flown close to Vancouver’s airport. Last November, someone posted a video of a landing airplane shot from a drone, which prompted an investigation by Canada’s transportation agency. Canada has relatively lax rules concerning the use of drones. If the flying robot is under 77 pounds, its pilot can fly it freely as long as he or she keeps it within line of sight and doesn’t fly it too close to populated areas or restricted airspace. In the U.S., on the other hand, drones can’t be flown closer than 5 miles from an airport. Despite this rule, similar incidents have happened in the United States. Last year, an airline pilot spotted a drone a few miles from New York City’s JFK airport. More recently, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration revealed that a drone and an American Airlines jet came very close to crashing into each other 2,300 feet above the ground near the Tallahassee Regional Airport in Florida. For more on Mashable‘s coverage of unmanned aerial vehicles, check out Drone Beat. Read more: http://mashable.com/2014/07/02/drone-flies-dangerously-close-to-planes-at-canadian-airport/
A bomb in Aleppo, Syria, leveled a hotel that government troops had used as a base on May 8. Image: Anadolu Agency / Contributor/Getty Images An enormous bomb leveled a luxury hotel in Aleppo, Syria that government soldiers were using as a base on Thursday, reportedly causing many casualties, though exact numbers are unknown. The blast demolished the Carlton Hotel, according to the Associated Press. The hotel was located on government-held turf but sat on the dividing line between the area state forces control and territory run by the rebels. A British organization called the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told the AP that at least 14 government soldiers died in the explosion, but Syria’s largest rebel faction, the Islamic Front, claimed responsibility for the blast and said it killed 50 troops. Rebels allegedly carved out tunnels underneath the hotel, packed them with explosives and detonated the bomb remotely. A shorter video of the blast is below. Video: YouTube, The Islamic Front This is the second time the Syrian Islamic Front has used bomb-stuffed tunnels to attack the Carlton. They first had success in February when they caused the building to partially collapse, and they’ve used tunnels in assaults on government positions in other regions of the country. Below is the full video of the Aleppo blast. The blow to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s military comes just a day after they had won a major symbolic victory. Rebel forces had evacuated the city of Homs on Wednesday under a case-fire agreement brokered by the United Nations. Homs is just one of several key battlegrounds in the country, but especially significant because it is known as the “capital of the revolution.” Fighting in Syria’s civil war has killed more than 100,000 people and large swaths of several major cities have been reduced to rubble in the three-year-long battle between government forces and several rebel groups. Despite the brief truce in Homs, citizens and fighters in Aleppo are experiencing no such calm. Syria’s largest city, like many others, is split between rebel and government troops and has been that way since rebels first attacked there back in 2012. Huge explosion levels Aleppo hotel used by Syrian forces as base http://t.co/TaDtliTjxg pic.twitter.com/gDPO68ZaTs #Aleppo #Syria — habibti (@ha_bibti) May 8, 2014 Assad’s forces and rebel fighters have bombed and launched mortars at each other over the past few months, according to the AP. Rebels have reportedly killed dozens by setting off car bombs in residential districts. Though the Islamic Front has not been designated a terrorist group by the United States, many Western groups consider it to be an extremist organization. This notion is believed to be why Western nations such as the United States have decided to not support rebel forces. window._msla=window.loadScriptAsync||function(src,id){if(document.getElementById(id))return;var js=document.createElement(‘script’);js.id=id;js.src=src;document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0].parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}; _msla(“//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”,”twitter_jssdk”); Read more: http://mashable.com/2014/05/08/explosion-aleppo-syria-carlton-hotel/
Andrew Cotton, a 34-year-old surfer from England, took on one of the biggest waves of all time on Sunday despite harsh weather conditions in Portugal. When the crest of the 80-foot wave caught up with him, he tumbled, disappearing beneath the water’s surface for a brief moment. Cotton told the BBC his fall was “pretty bad” and described the windy conditions as “bordering on unsurfable.” He was wearing an inflatable vest which shot him up to the surface of the water. Cotton qualifies for the Ride of the Year category in the 2014 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards. The judges of the event will decide in March whether he managed to break the world record for surfing the biggest wave, a title currently held by Garrett McNamara, who surfed a 78-foot wave in Nazaré. Praia do Norte in Nazaré, Portugal, where Cotton rode the 80-foot wave, was the same place that a surfer named Carlos Burle caught an estimated 100-foot wave in October 2013. However, Guinness has not officially confirmed that ride as record-setting, so McNamara still holds the No. 1 spot — for now. Read more: http://mashable.com/2014/02/04/surfer-portugal-wave/
TOSA, or Trolleybus Optimisation Systeme Alimentation, is a new electric bus charging system that takes only 15 seconds to power up. It is now being tested in Geneva, Switzerland. The system currently in place has the vehicles constantly connected to overhead trolley cables or, alternatively, running entire routes on a single charge. The new system allow buses to charge at every third or fourth stop using a device installed at the stop that engages with the roof using a laser guidance system. Once connected, the mechanism delivers a 15-second-long, 400-kilowatt boost to the bus batteries as passengers are getting on and off. TOSA’s charging stations will be completely wireless. Image courtesy of TOSA. TOSA enables flexible routes and eliminates the need for messy and unsightly overhead cables. Additionally, all of the electricity the buses use comes from hydropower, so no CO2 is emitted at any point in the process. The project is a collaboration between Geneva’s public transport company (TGP), the Office for the Promotion of Industries and Technologies (OPI) and the Geneva power utilities SIG and ABB. The trial will begin with a route from Geneva International Airport to the Palexpo exhibition system. If it succeeds, Geneva will be the world’s first city to use this concept and one step further towards a greener transport system. Image courtesy of TPG This article originally published at PSFK here Read more: http://mashable.com/2013/06/10/charging-electric-buses/
Private spaceflight company SpaceX has been testing its Grasshopper rocket over the past few months, but it set a record last week with its latest launch in which it flew 2,440.94 feet in the air — the vehicle’s highest leap yet. Using a single camera hexacopter drone, SpaceX was able to get closer than ever to record the video above, which the company released Monday. As the rocket climbed gracefully into the air, the drone camera — which you can see in the right-hand corner of the frame — adjusted to capture the seemingly slow launch. Grasshopper soared in an almost-perfect straight line — quite different from its August launch, when it leapt sideways. The 10-story-high Grasshopper is one of SpaceX’s most outside-the-box experiments. Most rockets burn up when reentering Earth’s atmosphere, but Grasshopper is a reusable Vertical Takeoff Vertical Landing (VTVL) vehicle built to withstand these harsh conditions and return to the planet’s surface intact. Grasshopper holds the first-stage tank of the Falcon 9 rocket, which boosts SpaceX’s unmanned Dragon capsule to the International Space Station. BONUS: 10 Rare of Inside-Views of Spacesuits Inside the Spacesuit: 10 Rare Views of a NASA Icon Alan Bean Spacesuit Astronaut Alan Bean wore this A7-LB suit on the 1973 Skylab 3 mission. Bean logged 1,671 hours and 45 minutes in space, including more than 10 hours of EVA (extra vehicular activity). Image: Smithsonian Institution, Mark Avino Boot X-Ray An x-ray of an Apollo-era “overboot” shows the adjustment strap that allowed astronauts to tighten this boot over another shoe that was attached to the spacesuit. Image: Smithsonian Institution, Mark Avino Glove Astronauts wore special gloves during lunar excursions. Made with rubber and Neoprene interior bladders, gloves covered hands completely to the wrist and were attached to the arms of the spacesuit with aluminum rings. Image: Smithsonian Institution, Mark Avino Helmet X-Ray This 1964 A4-H “Universal” helmet was designed to fit on more than one suit. The x-ray reveals ball bearings in the neck ring that allowed the helmet to move right and left without restriction. Image: Smithsonian Institution, Mark Avino Phase I Apollo Helmet X-ray of a helmet that was developed for the Phase I Apollo program. Image: National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Mark Avino Mark V Spacesuit The Mark V suit was relatively flexible and incorporated design elements that allowed for a fuller range of movement. Image: Smithsonian Institution, Mark Avino Apollo Spacesuit Overshoe X-ray of an extravehicular (EV) overshoe that was designed to be worn over the Apollo spacesuit boots while an astronaut was walking on the Moon. Image: National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Mark Avino Alan Shepard’s Apollo 14 Spacesuit An x-ray of Alan Shepard’s Apollo 14 spacesuit allows curators and conservators to “see” inside space clothing — a task that had previously been done by peering through the neck or the wrist with a flashlight. Image: X-ray by Roland H. Cunningham and Mark Avino Freedom 7 Spacesuit Alan B. Shepard, one of the original “Mercury […]
NASA‘s Chris Cassidy wanted to give fellow astronaut Luca Parmitano a warm welcome to the International Space Station last week, but a bottle of wine or a nice casserole wouldn’t cut it. Cassidy buzzed his head to match Parmitano’s signature clean-shaven look. (Hey, imitation is the best form of flattery.) However, even the most menial of tasks take on a whole new level in zero gravity. Cassidy couldn’t just pick up a standard razor — hair would be floating around the ISS for weeks. Instead, he used an electric hair trimmer and a vacuum. “I don’t think I’ve looked like this since Plebe Summer!” joked Cassidy, who has a reputation as a notorious prankster. When he arrived on board the ISS in March, he donned an over-the-top fake mustache for Commander Chris Hadfield. The fun didn’t stop with the video above. Once the nerds at Mission Control back on Earth heard about the space haircut, they jumped in on the joke with this “Wanted” poster in search of the missing hair. Images courtesy of NASA Read more: http://mashable.com/2013/06/04/nasa-astronaut-shaves-head/
Holding world records is cool. Holding world records for things like this? Not so much. When we think of world record holders, we usually picture star athletes pulling off epic feats of physical fitness or people doing death-defying stunts in the name of Guinness. What we don’t usually envision is some dude popping his eyes out and keeping them like that for way, way too long. But alas, here we are. Yeah, I don’t think I can live the same life after seeing that. I think I’ll stick to working on the world’s largest stamp collection. Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/eye-popping-record/
Now you can learn about 42 important historical events from the last century on your home computer through the Google Cultural Institute. The product of a partnership between Google and a number of museums and cultural foundations, the online exhibit combines letters, first-hand video testimonials, manuscripts and more into a multimedia historical journey. “The historical collections are the latest chapter in the work of the Google Cultural Institute, following the Art Project, World Wonders and the Nelson Mandela archives, “ Mark Yoshitake, product Manager for the Google Cultural Institute said in a blog post announcing the exhibitions. “We’re working closely with museums, foundations and other archives around the world to make more cultural and historical material accessible online and by doing so preserve it for future generations.” Wednesday’s release includes a look back at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, D-Day, and the Holocaust, amongst others. Much like other archives brought to the web by Google, you can zoom in on photos in the exhibition to check out details, and search through the archives for something specific such as a particular person or date. Each exhibition also includes a narrative that links the archive material together, such as the story of Steve Biko. The 15-year-old had a political awakening in the midst of the Apartheid movement. Learn how to navigate the archives in the video below. Let us know about your favorite exhibition included in the project in the comments. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/10/10/google-brings-history-to-life-with-online-exhibitions/
The Social Good Summit continues Sunday in New York — but you can still join in the global conversation even if you couldn’t make it to New York. This year’s livestream is available in seven languages — English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin, Russian and Hebrew. This year’s Social Good Summit expands beyond the 92nd Street Y’s New York walls. Partner events, forming The Global Conversation are taking place in Beijing, China; Nairobi, Kenya; and Mogadishu, Somalia on Monday. One of the early Meetups took place Sunday morning in Madagascar: @thierry_ratsiz partage son exprience du web et des médias sociaux au #sgsglobal #madagascar twitter.com/saveoursmile/s… — Hery Zo (@saveoursmile) September 23, 2012 All Meetups in dangerous regions of the world have been cleared with U.N. security officials, who are taking responsibility. Are you taking part in a community Social Good Meetup? Let us know what’s taking place your region in the comments. About Ericsson Read more of Mashable’s coverage of the 2012 Social Good Summit: Day One: Hillary Clinton Opens the Social Good Summit [VIDEO] How the U.S. Chief Technology Officer Is Making Data Awesome Can Mobile Phones Help Fight Pediatric AIDS? How Is Social Media Changing Diplomacy? Peter Gabriel Makes Case For Internet Freedom ITU Secretary-General: OK to Make Profit When Helping Developing Nations 8-Year-Old YouTube Sensation Performs at Social Good Summit Social Good Summit Day 1: Highlights and Pics Day Two: ShoutAbout Aims to Inspire Social Action Based on News Stories Tim Pool, Guerrilla Journalist of the Digital Age [VIDEO] U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice: Twitter Crucial to Her Mission How Social Media Is Empowering Women in Haiti How to Use Mobile Devices to Solve Global Problems How Forest Whitaker Is Using Technology to Spread Peace Social Good Summit Day 2: Highlights and Pics Day Three: Napolitano: Congress ‘Got Stuck’ on Cybersecurity U.N. Foundation Challenges the World to Take Action Nick Kristof Takes Social Good Gaming to the Next Level Why Tech and New Media Can Help End Modern Slavery UNICEF Launches Online Campaign to Reduce Child Mortality Rates What It Means to Be an Advocate in the Digital Age What Non-Profits Can Learn From Cat Videos Wikipedia Founder: Online Connections Foster Real Change Deepak Chopra: Social Media is the Next Phase of Humanity [VIDEO] How Social Good Summit Sparked the Largest Conversation on Earth Social Good Summit Day 3: Highlights and Pics 10 Inspiring Quotes From Mashable’s Social Good Summit Thumbnail image courtesy of iStockphoto, skegbydave window._msla=window.loadScriptAsync||function(src,id){if(document.getElementById(id))return;var js=document.createElement(‘script’);js.id=id;js.src=src;document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0].parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}; _msla(“//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”,”twitter_jssdk”); Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/09/23/social-good-livestream-summit/