Virginia has joined 28 other states in a $29 million agreement with Toyota Motor Corp. over allegations the company concealed safety issues related to unintended acceleration. In a complaint filed along with the agreement, the states allege Toyota engaged in unfair and deceptive practices when it failed to timely disclose known safety defects with accelerator […]
Applications
This Device Punishes You for Skipping a Workout
We’ve all done it. You come home from a long day at the office. Sit down on the couch to watch a little Walking Dead. You feel a little guilty that you haven’t hit the gym or gone for a run, but you figure no one will know. But then your television set turns itself […]
The Global State of Information Security
Information security has always been a high-stakes game. One that demands a smart strategy, the right technology moves, and an unblinking eye on adversaries. For many businesses, however, it has become a pursuit that is almost impossible to win. That’s because the rules have changed, and opponents—old and new—are armed with expert technology skills. As […]
Playing Quantum Tricks with Measurements
A team of physicists at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, performed an experiment that seems to contradict the foundations of quantum theory – at first glance. The team led by Rainer Blatt reversed a quantum measurement in a prototype quantum information processor. The experiment is enabled by a technique that has been developed for quantum […]
Passengers Slog Home After Engine Fire on Gulf Cruise
Passengers finally escaped the disabled Carnival cruise ship Triumph and were on the move Friday: some checked into hotels while others hopped on buses or jumped on charter flights home after five numbing days at sea on a cruise liner paralyzed by an engine-room fire. The vacation ship carrying some 4,200 people docked late […]
U.S. Unaware of Fraud as It Gives Egypt Co Tax Break
State and local officials promised an Egyptian company $200 million in tax breaks to build a fertilizer plant in southeast Iowa without knowledge of a pending lawsuit alleging one of the company’s subsidiaries defrauded U.S. taxpayers out of millions of dollars, officials told The Associated Press. The Iowa Economic Development Authority and Lee County approved […]
Show captures the ‘horrors’ (and ‘joys’) of medical school
A zombie-themed television series was the inspiration for this year’s Second Year Show, titled “The Walking Med,” which will be staged on Friday, Feb. 22, by the Yale School of Medicine’s Class of 2015. Proceeds from the show, an annual tradition at the medical school, will benefit the Hunger & Homelessness Charities. In the popular […]
Tour PlanetSolar
PlanetSolar is the first boat to travel around the world on sunlight alone. Christian Ochsenbein, the on-board electrical engineer during the 19-month journey, shows off the yacht’s power system. For more information visit https://spectrum.ieee.org.
Equipment Autopsy: Under-Cabinet Television
In this teardown video, Chris takes apart an old under cabinet TV to see what’s inside. He explains how ferrite beads work, how audio speakers are specified, and the basic RF circuit board layout of a TV. Chris covers how ferrite is used to tune parts of the circuit and antenna and then salvages some […]
Kickstarter of the Week: A Life-Size, Walk-In Camera
When Daimler-Benz commissioned German physicist and inventor Werner Krause to develop a camera capable of recording the ignition process of the Wankel engine in the 70s, they had no idea it would result in a technological wonder. The standard optical lens systems of the time were incapable of capturing the ultra-fast processes within automobile […]