The in-flight service is provided by a carrier called Aircell, which spectrum geeks may recall won an exclusive ten-year contract from the FCC in 2006 to provide air-to-ground broadband at 3MHz. Onboard, a standard 802.11 wi-fi network works with all standard devices. Aircell’s service, called Gogo, has already been rolled out on American Airlines, and seems likely to become a for-pay feature on a majority of airlines. It uses a trio of antennas mounted on the outside of the plane to send an EV-DO signal to the ground, where it is handled by a dedicated network of 92 cell towers, distributed throughout the U....

Here’s how it would work, in theory: GM’s electric vehicles (EVs) would be equipped with bidirectional hardware, which could both charge the vehicle and use the vehicle’s battery as an outside power source. This sort of tech is already being used by automakers like Ford and Hyundai to facilitate vehicle-to-vehicle charging (GM previously announced it would be a feature in its 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV). GM and PG&E said this technology would be coupled with “software-defined communications protocols” that would automatically direct that power into homes when PG&E’s electric supply shuts off....

Cases of human rabies in the US are rare—there were only 25 documented cases from 2009 to 2018, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Seven people acquired their infections outside the country, and all but two died from their disease. There were multiple sightings of the Capitol fox on Monday, along with the first social media posts about it on Twitter. Then the biting began. “Word came in of roughly six bites and/or nips,” a Capitol Police spokesperson told NPR over email....

“Any body, dead or alive, is potentially infectious,” says Alex Williamson, the chief of autopsy pathology at Northwell Health and a member of the College of American Pathologists’ autopsy committee. “The difference is a dead person cannot cough or sneeze or spit.” Decedents instead carry the virus on their flesh and clothes or in their bodily fluids, which pathologists, medical examiners, and morgue workers often come in contact with in the process of dealing with the bodies....

Logitech Brio 500 webcam Logitech has stuck with the same webcam design, that of the Logitech c920 series, for the past 10 years. In September, the company finally upended tradition and created a new, modern-looking webcam design with the Brio 500. At a cursory glance, you might mistake it for a basic glow-up: The Brio 500 is, like the c922 Pro, a 1080p webcam with a maximum framerate of 30 frames per second....

Right now, Xian Aircraft Corporation (XAC) builds the H-6K, a version of the 1950s Soviet Tu-16 Badger medium bomber modernized for avionics and increased range. But a series of reports demonstrate that, along with fielding modern missiles and expanding its range of military activities across the Pacific Ocean, China is planning to build out its strategic bomber force with a new generation of planes. After years of speculation, in September 2016 People’s Liberation Army Air Force commander General Ma Xiaotian announced that China was researching the development of a long-range bomber....

Okay, first class is obviously the best, with business class only a smidgen behind it. So if you’ve got that kind of cash, skip the rest of this article and get planning your next trip. You don’t need me to tell you all the action is in seat 2A. But if you’re looking to fly like a baller—on a budget—I’ve got some tips for you. Find out what you’re flying on Before choosing a seat, figure out what kind of plane you’ll be flying on and, more importantly, how the cabin is laid out....

Senate Democrats have been trying to negotiate a reconciliation bill for months that would include funding for climate provisions, such as increasing the supply of solar panels and utility-scale batteries, building electric vehicle charging stations, investing in offshore wind power and more. However, passing such a bill requires all 50 Democrats in the Senate to vote in favor of it. It’s recently become clear Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) is not willing to vote for a bill that includes these climate provisions....

The smartmi Standing Fan 2S, usually $129.99, is versatile enough to keep your guests comfortable during your apartment complex balcony 4th of July party or while you’re sleeping. It’s cordless, powered by a built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery, and easy to carry, meaning you can take it anywhere, and seven blades allow it to imitate natural wind in case you’re itching to feel a soft breeze on your face. Four oscillation angles give you customization and control—the Mi Home app gives you even more personalization, allowing you to choose from 100 stepless speed settings....

Climate change, high sea surface temperatures, acidity levels and carbon dioxide levels, coastal development, sewage discharge and overfishing are all contributing factors to coral reefs’ demise. The study warns that the fate of the reefs all depends on how much these external causes can be curbed as well as the ability of coral reefs to adapt to changes. But, we have more to worry about than the coral reefs alone....

The nodules bear some resemblance to cauliflower, but they wouldn’t taste very good–they’re actually made out of a type of glassy mineral called opaline silica. Although scientists can’t say for sure how they formed on Mars, planetary geologist Steven Ruff and geobiologist Jack Farmer recently announced that they’ve found similar features on Earth, which they think were built by microbes. Previously, scientists thought the Mars bumps might have been carved out of the rock layer by acidic geothermal processes, back when the region was an active hot spring a few billion years ago....

But while the company claims the program will benefit independent authors previously unable to pursue the publishing option due to “the cost and complexity of production,” some writers and publishing insiders are expressing reservations about the prospect of taking actual actors out of the equation. “Digitally narrated titles are a valuable complement to professionally narrated audiobooks, and will help bring audio to as many books and as many people as possible,” Apple argues in its new service’s announcement, while also promising to continue “celebrating and showcasing the magic of human narration” while still growing its human-narrated audiobook catalog....

Mountain bike riders exhibit the most “scrotal abnormalities”, explains the study’s author Vinod Nargund of St Bartholomew’s and Homerton Hospitals, London, while long-distance riders suffer the most numbness and erectile problems. Bicycle seats make contact with male riders right behind the scrotum and put pressure on the areas nerves and blood vessels. Riders can mitigate the damage by paying close attention to the fit of their bike, making sure they are fully padded, and taking lots of breaks, says Nargund....

Since today, as well as the week that follow, will be filled with memorializations and remembrances of one of music’s most creatively gifted talents, it’s worth trekking through memory lane for this early #TBT look at BowieNet, the Internet service provider Bowie launched in the halcyon days of 1998. Already a creative outlier, Bowie was also well-ahead of his time at discerning the ever disappearing link between celebrity and the casual fan, and his acceptance of the technological leaps of the mid-to-late 1990s is noteworthy....

Scientists have traditionally agreed that the earliest dates that humans were found in North America is somewhere between 14,000 to 16,000 years ago, following the last ice age. However, in a new study published yesterday in the journal Quaternary Research scientists from the Desert Research Institute (DRI), Kansas State University, the University of Nevada, Reno, and Oregon State University caution that the dating evidence used to age the White Sands footprints needs improvement to make a claim that changes scientific consensus....

This week’s episode features special guest James Harkin, head researcher for the TV show “QI” and cohost of No Such Thing As A Fish. James joined us in the studio while visiting NYC for NSTAAF’s latest tour to share the fascinating history of radium mania—the craze that had us turning everything from slippers to health tonics radioactive. For more info on the horrific aftermath of this trend, check out this article about the so-called Radium Girls....

Upon gaining access to the network, AnonSec found NASA computers with passwords left on the default. From there, they searched for whatever they could find on NASA’s use of drones, and eventually, they say, they tried to crash a drone into the sea. Here’s how the International Business Times describes AnonSec’s claim: The crash was averted, AnonSec claims, because NASA noticed the deviation from course and corrected it. Only major issue with this story?...

The Environmental Protection Agency gave the TDI an air pollution score of 1 out of 10, the lowest possible, thanks to a beefy turbo-diesel engine that emits embarrassing amounts of exhaust. The Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD, in second place, also got an EPA air pollution score of 1. Most vehicles score a 6, and hybrids such as the Ford Escape, Honda Civic and Toyota Prius rate a 9.5. And don’t assume that the worst polluters are always SUVs or trucks....

Thalattoarchon saurophagis–meaning “lizard-eating ruler of the sea” (!)–was at least 28 feet long, and spent its 160 million years on Earth eating creatures that were smaller, the same size, and even bigger than itself, before it died out about 90 million years ago, or 25 million years before the end of the dinosaurs. It used a giant skull with giant teeth to prey on those often-giant sea-dwellers. Researchers, who first discovered fossil evidence of Thalattoarchon in central Nevada in 2008 and published their findings this week, pin the creature’s heyday at about 244 million years ago....