Einstein likely never said one of his most oft-quoted phrases

Credit: Wikimedia Commons/ Rebecca J. Rosen/ The Atlantic

Albert Einstein called the cosmological constant his "biggest blunder", right?

Quite likely, it never happened.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/08/einstein-likely-never-said-one-of-his-most-oft-quoted-phrases/278508/ / tales biggest blunder problem bugging theory of general relativity universe stable theory Universe collapse collapsing collapsed steady state fixed physicists equations work 1917 Einstein introduced additional term into them expression expressed Greek letter lambda ƛ cosmological constant new term represented repulsive force would counter gravity gravity's attraction evidence mounted belief Universe's morionless motion motionlessness Universe expand expansion expanding equation intuition intuit cosmos concoction concocted contrivance preserve false assumption repeated thousands of times books journal articles across the disciplines discipline uttered phrase biggest blunder astrophysicist author Mario Livio documentation references physicist George Gamow posthumously published autobiography My World Line 1970 Scientific American article September 1956 Livio Brilliant Blunders thin sourcing Gamow brilliant physicist reputation student Ralph Alpher write paper astrophysicist Hans Bethe Alpher Bethe Gamow Einstein archive Jerusalem collection personally correspondence scientist famous physicist correspondence between Einstein Gamow confirm /

Time Warner Cable CEO admits "Game Of Thrones" piracy is good for HBO

Credit: HBO/ BGR

http://bgr.com/2013/08/08/time-warner-cable-ceo-hbo-piracy/ / pirate piracy pirating copy copying download file sharing torrent watch popularity word of mouth excitement producer most pirated television show crack down illegal streaming Game of Thrones company BitTorrent users illegally watch hit show Business Insider Time Warner Cable CEO Jeff Bewkes Game of Thrones piracy net positive creates word-of-mouth excitement new subscribers sharing more penetration paying subs subscription subscriptions paid advertising programming president Michael Lombardo /

Get rid of those damn mosquitoes with the Mosquito Magnet

Credit: Mosquito Magnet/ The Gadgeteer

http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/08/08/mosquito-magnet-commander-review/#more-135331 / mosquito bite itch lump carbon dioxide CO2 warm warmth water moisture vapour vapor humidity attract draw zapper trap gas cylinder /

A tiny iPhone photography studio built into a Moleskine notebook

Credit: Moleskine/ Gizmodo

This thing will allow you to film both sides of a conversation using an iPhone. Comes with coloured filters too.

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2013/08/a-tiny-iphone-photography-studio-built-into-a-moleskine-notebook/ / colour color coloured video mirror /

Would you retrofit a range extender to your electric vehicle?

Credit: Hyperdrive/ Green Car Reports

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1086059_would-you-retrofit-a-range-extender-to-your-electric-car / Hyperdrive retrofit range extending extender extended range-extending internal combustion engine for electric cars electric vehicle EV ICE company companies convert regular petrol gasoline cars electric add plug in plug-in option regular hybrids hybrid extended range range-extended electric vehicles small gasoline engines engine Hyperdrive North East of England developing develop development Chevrolet Volt Holden Opel Vauxhall Ampera range anxiety limited range generator alternator press release 15 kW 20 horsepower compact in size hybrid battery charge recharge LiIon lithium ion regen regenerative braking demonstration vehicle based electric conversion Daihatsu Sirion subcompact aimed small smaller applications cars commercial vehicles marine applications portable power pack breakdown services similar power similarly-powerful diesel range extender funding North East-based, UK government-backed development fund novel /

Real-world vaporware: Charge your phone with a hydrogen fuel cell

Credit: Tim Moynihan/ Wired

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/08/brunton-hydrogen-reactor/ / reactor ion negative positive positively negatively electron electrons hydrogen reactor oxygen steam water vapor vapour heat charge recharge phone smartphone battery external LiIon lithium ion device tablet 1 Amp USB 5 Volt Volts platinum core /

Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, promises deep dive into electric-car emissions

Credit: Green Car Reports

Opponents of electric vehicles often gleefully claim that electric vehicles (EVs) produce as much carbon dioxide as internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles because coal is burned to produce the electricity.

Such an "analysis" is flawed because, although it takes account of almost all of the the CO2 produced upstream of the EV (unless the source is hydro, or some other green source), it ignores the enormous amount of CO2 produced upstream of the ICE petrol tank. Issues involved have previously been discussed in these pages.

A further issue is "imbedded energy". I.e. the energy consumed in producing a vehicle. EV opponents have recently suggested that the embedded energy in an EV is greater than that in an ICE equivalent.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has recently tweeted that he will undertake an exhaustive investigation into relative amounts of imbedded energy in EV & ICE vehicles.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1085997_teslas-musk-promises-deep-dive-into-electric-car-emissions / LiIon EV electric vehicle embedded energy battery cell lithium ion manufacture rare earth metal well to wheels accounting cradle to grave coal power station brown dirty grid carbon dioxide CO2 fossil fuel non-fossil non fossil /