Using its new 48-layer, 3-bit V-NAND technology, Samsung has doubled the density of its current flash chips to 256GB. As a result, it has been able to fit 16TB of storage into a standard 2.5-inch enclosure. Expect something similar from other manufacturers soon.
With the inherent speed advantage of solid state being supplemented by progress in capacity & cost, is it too early to start questioning the future of spinning-disk hard drives? / 2.5 inch PM1633a drive designed for enterprise users super-pricey technology storage trickle down smaller cheaper drives future Samsung’s drive hold twice as much data largest 2.5 inch hard drives on the market SSDs Samsungs 256 gigabit 48-layer 3D V-NAND flash die twice the density Samsung high-capacity solid state storage Toshiba SanDisk plans 256 gigabit 48-layer NAND flash storage chips Intel Micron new 3D Xpoint technology NAND new storage technology 1,000 times faster than NAND Samsung supersize solid state storage 16TB SSD world’s largest storage drive SSD hard disk storage Seagate Western Digital Fixstars Samsung’s new drive fits within a 2.5-inch enclosure insanely large storage drives targeting the server market first flash memory server fast rated at two million input/output operations per second 3D NAND flash chips 48-layer 3-bit V-NAND technology doubled the density multi-terabyte SSDs SanDisk Toshiba release date technology trickle down consumer market storage needs /
Dubbed “Deep Blue”, this is reputedly the biggest great white shark ever filmed. Not necessarily the biggest great white. On the subject of size, Wikepedia says: “... mature individuals growing up to 6.4 m (21 ft) in length ...”1
Not the biggest shark — the whale shark can be around twice the length of the great white. “The largest confirmed individual had a length of 12.65 m (41.50 ft) & a weight of approximately 21.5 metric tons (47,000 lb) …”2
It is likely to look different than other vehilces — partly because that is generally the Apple way — & because Apple designers Jony Ive & Marc Newson hate how modern cars look.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/brookecrothers/2015/07/29/apple-eyed-bmw-i3-as-a-design-for-electric-car-report// Apple building self-driving car Silicon Valley secure locations San Francisco Bay area test documents show rumoured Apple car project further along suspected engineers Apple’s secretive Special Project group met with officials GoMentum Station 2,100-acre former naval base near San Francisco high-security testing ground autonomous vehicles correspondence the Guardian public records act request Apple engineer Frank Fearon Apple declined to comment GoMentum Station old Concord naval weapons station disused second world war-era facility 20 miles of paved highways city streets closed to the public guarded by the military largest secure test facility in the world testing validation commercialization connected vehicle CV autonomous vehicles AV technologies define the next generation transportation network infrastructure Mercedes-Benz Honda experiments self-driving cars barbed-wire fences security Apple hundreds of engineers working on automotive technologies anonymous office building Sunnyvale main campus in Cupertino project Apple self-driving car almost ready for the road Jack Hall program manager autonomous vehicles GoMentum Station Fearon Apple rumoured working on a self-driving electric car codenamed Project Titan first time its existence has been documented Apple senior vice-president Jeff Williams the ultimate mobile device Apple markets Google Uber tech companies robot cars Apple chief executive Tim Cook meetings car executives poached automotive experts head of Mercedes Benz’s Silicon Valley research arm Cook Fiat-Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne BMW’s i3 electric car assembly line recruiting automotive experts Silicon Valley hiring engineers from Tesla Motors Mercedes-Benz power experts electric car battery maker A123 Systems electric motorbike Silicon Valley start-up Lit Motors build autonomous robotic paraglider Georgia Institute of Technology testing grounds layout photos Apple test vehicles realistic everyday situations Google Tesla Volkswagen Mercedes-Benz other carmakers issued permits California department of motor vehicles test self-driving cars state’s public roads disclosing technical and commercial details notoriously secretive Apple non-disclosure agreement with Apple Randy Iwasaki executive director Contra Costa Transportation Authority owner of GoMentum Station Apple’s obsession with secrecy engineers Apple’s Special Projects group documents Apple’s automotive team lab workshop spaces beefed-up security access card readers testing secure location trialling driverless cars Honda memorandum of understanding begin testing Japanese automaker self-driving version RLX saloon development engineers Tesla Motors armed soldiers refused high security /
Some of the coverage seems to deal harshly with Lowe's, as in, "Black delivery driver replaced by manager after Lowe’s customer demands white employee." In fact, one manager ordered the switch, the order was not complied with, & the manager's services have since been dispensed with. Lowe's senior management has been reported as having made statements such as, "Under no circumstances should a discriminatory delivery request be honored ..."
Bravo Lowe’s Home Improvement, bravo Marcus Bradley (driver), bravo Alex Brooks (who defied instructions to replace Marcus Bradley)!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/08/10/black-delivery-driver-replaced-by-manager-after-lowes-customer-demands-white-employee/?postshare=2221439469527957/ Marcus Bradley delivery driver Lowe’s Home Improvement Danville Va. routine delivery call manager return the shipment to work because you’re black don’t want you at the house Alex Brooks Marcus Bradley his manager customer gave the company specific instructions not to send a black employee to the home replaced by a white driver fellow deliveryman Alex Brooks delivery truck manager black white truck complete the delivery longtime partner delivery guys put my foot down employer customer’s demand Chris Ahearn Lowe’s spokeswoman manager has been fired drivers drivers senior executives apologize in person zero tolerance for discrimination terms of the sale Lowe’s corporate office diversity and inclusion core value troubling investigation discriminatory delivery request diversity and inclusion core values investigation I gotta work /
Evaporation is a major cause of water loss from dams — as much as 40%1. As of Monday, the Los Angeles Reservoir is protected from evaporation by 96 million black plastic balls. By this measure, evaporation is expected to be reduced by nearly 300 million gallons annually.
How does this work? Hollow black balls floating on the surface shade the water from the Sun, & reduce exposure to the air.
Other benefits include suppression of algal growth & under certain circumstances, sunlight driven reactions involving bromine & chlorine, to form carcinogens.
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1 National Program for Sustainable Irrigation: “Controlling evaporation losses from farm dams“, http://lwa.gov.au/products/pf050873/ Los Angeles LA Angeleno black plastic balls floating LA Reservoir dam massive water source ball pit drought-stricken water clean protect it from evaporation LA mayor Eric Garcetti shade balls Los Angeles Reservoir final stage city city’s water quality protection plan costing $US34.5 million shade ball water-cleaning device reduces evaporation protects against animals dirt costs 36 cents 96 million 175-acre reservoir 3.3 billion gallons of water water quality control shade balls staving off algae growth preventing harmful chemical reactions sunlight chlorine shade balls cost-effective reduce evaporation nearly 300 million gallons per year provide drinking water 8,100 people onyx-coloured buoyant ball pit anti-drought measures Los Angeles Department of Water and Power $US100 million ultraviolet water treatment facility keep LA water safe help cut losses drought /
Conventional internal combustion engines, using the technology that is probably in your car, have very poor efficiency. In practice, around 20%.1 The other 80% escapes largely through the exhaust pipe & the cooling system.
A new engine combustion cycle has been developed by a startup called LiquidPiston.
Because of its improved efficiency & use of aspects of Otto, Diesel, Rankine, & Atkinson cycles, LiquidPiston calls their new combustion cycle, “High Efficiency Hybrid Cycle” (HEHC).
At first glance, the HEHC resembles the Wankel rotary. Actually, the Wankel is even less efficient than other internal combustion engines. This is due, in large part, to the long, narrow combustion chamber, which allows excessive heat energy to be lost from the burning fuel/air mixture, to the chamber walls.
Notice the long, narrow combustion chamber (red) in the Wankel, & the compact combustion chambers (black) in the LPI X1. Credit: LiquidPiston/Popular Mechanics
HEHC has a high compression ratio (18:1) & contains the combustion process in a smaller space than any other internal combustion cycle technology. This increases speed of combustion & minimises loss of heat energy. Finally, HEHC lengthens the expansion part of the cycle, so that the exhaust gasses are released at close to atmospheric pressure, thereby transferring the maximum possible fraction of the energy released by combustion to the piston, & reducing exhaust noise. Because so much of the heat energy released by the burning fuel is converted to mechanical energy, less is lost as heat, so that liquid cooling is not required.
Other advantages include small size & weight, compared to other types of internal combustion engines.
1Wikepedia: "Fuel efficiency", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_efficiency/ Hyper-Efficient Engine: Turning the Rotary Inside Out internal combustion engine startup LiquidPiston leap in efficiency from 20 percent to 50 percent automakers reciprocating piston engine hybrid systems improved accessories independent inventors huge improvements basic efficiency internal combustion engine engineering Bloomfield Connecticut LiquidPiston X1 engine just three moving parts major components raise thermal efficiency gas engine reduction weight size wasting much less energy combustion cycle 80 percent energy fossil fuels heat pressure exhaust dumped atmosphere radiator LiquidPiston's design capture waste higher efficiency Alec Shkolnik President CEO LiquidPiston thermal cycles design theoretically capable of 75 percent thermal efficiency 57 percent real world applications Wankel rotary seals Wankel housing X1 engine reduction oil consumption rotary engine enhancements direct injection high compression ratio 18:1 change geometry combustion chamber constant volume ignition air-fuel mixture auto-ignites like a diesel burned much longer than normal more complete combustion low emissions very high chamber pressures high pressure nearly atmospheric pressures available energy is extracted exhaust physically pushed out internal combustion engine releases very energetic high-pressure exhaust gas convert more heat energy mechanical force less heat has to be removed block no water cooling system engine under load cool down skip fuel injection event suck in cool air heated by the block exhausted inject water into the combustion chamber three effects cooling the engine reduced reducing NOx emissions converting water to steam increases power compact design LiquidPiston's lab engine 80 lbs 40-hp model weigh less than 50 lbs in production 40-hp diesel LiquidPiston hybrid range-extenders military applications boat engines license intellectual property manufacturing petrol gasoline engine /
Ettore Bugatti is best known for his cars designed during the 1930s. Perhaps best known of all, is the 1931 Bugatti Type 51 grand prix car.
Credit: http://hdwpics.com/
1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic.
Credit: TheCoolist
Almost no-one is aware of the sole Bugatti aircraft — the most beautiful aircraft never to fly — the Bugatti 100P — "... an antique that seems like it somehow came from the future." — Preston Lerner
Note the forward-swept wings & the gearbox (seen through the canopy, in front of the cockpit), which delivers power from the twin engines to the contra-rotating propellers. Credit: Reve Bleu/Kickstarter
