Achieving great things in short time

The 'Hyperloop' Would be 10 Times Faster than High-speed Rail

Errr... what on earth is an hyperloop? I don't know too, maybe Tesla CEO, Elon Musk can help us out...

Elton Musk (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

ELON MUSK: The 'Hyperloop' Would Be 10 Times Cheaper Than High-Speed Rail

In an appearance on CNBC this morning, Tesla Motors and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said a "Hyperloop" — a futuristic new kind of mass transit — could be built for just 10% of the cost of the high-speed rail project currently underway in California.

Musk did not elaborate on an earlier description of the Hyperloop as a "cross between a Concorde, a railgun, and an air hockey table," but said it would be far faster and less expensive per mile than California's $69 billion, 520-mile project.

Musk said that once it's in place, that railway, connecting San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego, will be the "slowest bullet train in the world."

We found plans for a system that sounds a lot like the Hyperloop in a 1972 paper by the Rand Corporation, proposing shooting electromagnetically levitated and propelled cars across the country in a vacuum sealed tunnel.

Musk said he would not elaborate on his conception of the Hyperloop until after June 20, when another announcement regarding Tesla is planned.

He did say the system would "be a really great way to travel" between the right pairs of nearby cities, like LA and San Francisco, or New York and Boston.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-hyperloop-is-10x-cheaper-than-hsr-2013-5#ixzz2Ut1fZ9WI

 

On Excellence

Taye Taiwo is not going to Inter Milan

Milan Taye Taiwo 2011-2012 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

News broke yesterday that Nigerian international left-back, Taye Taiwo had signed a contract with Inter Milan. Well, his agent has rubbished the news...

AGENT: TAIWO IS NOT GOING TO INTER MILAN

The Italian agent of unsettled Nigeria defender ,Taye Taiwo,  has rubbished reports that his client has signed a new contract with Serie A giants Inter Milan following the expiration of  his season-long loan at Ukrainian side Dynamo Kiev.

It was widely reported yesterday that  the former Olympique Marseille left-back who joined AC Milan two seasons ago but failed to tie down a regular playing time has put pen to paper for a two-year deal with the former European champions as part of new gaffer,Walter Mazzarri's early reinforcements.

 But in a exclusive interview with FCInterNews, Parisi described the rumour as mere nightmare.

"There is no truth in that report and Taye will not play for Inter next season. I do not understand where they get this kind of news," he quipped.

Taiwo, who recently completed a one-year loan deal with Dynamo Kiev in Ukraine after a similar stint with Queens Park Rangers  of England two seasons ago, was reported to have flown into Milan on Tuesday night to sign the contract papers with Inter before making the news public on Wednesday.

The 28-year-old is still contractually bound to the Rossoneri and he is now expected to return to his parent club in the summer  to sort out his future ahead of the commencement of 2013/2014 season.

Source: Complete Sports

Chinese baby rescued from sewer pipe returned to mother

It seems the horrific story here has turned out to be less sinister as the police in China have returned the baby to its mother whom is believed to have given birth in the toilet with the baby falling into the sewer pipe upon delivery...

A newborn baby rescued from a sewer pipe in China has been returned to his mother who will not face charges.

Firefighters were called to a residential building in Jinhua city, eastern China to rescue the baby.

The infant was trapped in an L-shaped section of sewage pipe just below a squat toilet in one of the building’s public lavatories..

A video of the infant, known as Baby 59 because of his incubator number, being rescued gripped the world.

The as yet unnamed woman is a high school graduate who works at a restaurant.

She said she became pregnant after a one-night stand with a man who initially denied any responsibility.

But the man has now requested a paternity test and is reported to be ready to discuss with the woman how to support the child.

Chen Padong, office director at Pujiang Hospital, said: ‘Last night, at around 9pm, the local police department and then a family member (of the baby) came and picked him up.’

The woman told police she could not afford an abortion and secretly delivered the child Saturday afternoon in the toilet.

She said she tried to catch the baby but he slipped into the sewer line and that she alerted her landlord to the trapped child  after she could not pull him out, it was reported.

In the video, firefighters were shown removing the pipe from a ceiling that was just below the toilet.

Then in the hospital medics were seen using pliers and saws to gently pull apart the pipe, which was about 10 centimetres (about 3 inches) in diameter.

The baby, who weighed 2.8 kilograms (6 pounds, 2.8 ounces), had a low heart rate and some minor abrasions on his head and limbs, but was mostly unhurt.

Police have said the woman faces no charges, deciding she did not initially step forward because she was frightened but gradually had a change of heart and began to tell the truth.

Source: Metro

Waze integrates Facebook event navigation into its services

Waze is the social-driving app that is making headlines at the moment...

Waze Integrates Facebook Event Navigation, Shows Zuck What He Is Missing

Your friends are having a party. You're not quite sure where it is, but all the details are in a Facebook Event invite. To get there, you'll have to log into Facebook, find the invite and the address, load it into Google Maps and follow the directions. 

Social driving app Waze wants to make that process much, much easier.

On Thursday, Waze announced new features that lets users navigate to any Facebook Event with single click. If you are logged into to Waze via Facebook Connect, you can just click on the event and Waze will direct you to the party. 

If you RSVP to a Facebook Event on Waze, directions will appear 48 hours prior to the event. If there is no address listed in the event, other guests can input the correct address. Waze will also show you the locations and timing of your friends who have RSVP’d to the event, allowing you to track their progress. (You don't want to arrive too early, do you?)

"One-tap navigation to Facebook Events is only the start… drivers will enjoy much more in upcoming versions soon," promised Yael Elish, VP of product and marketing at Waze in a press release.

Read more via Readwrite here. 

Syria has received first shipment of S-300 missiles according to Lebanese media

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This piece of information could be pivotal if confirmed...

Assad says Syria received Russian missile shipment - Lebanese media

Syria has received the first shipment of a sophisticated air defence system from Russia, President Bashar al-Assad was quoted as saying, sending a signal of military strength days before an EU arms embargo on the country lapses.

Russia had promised delivery of the S-300 missile system to the Syrian government despite Western objections, saying the move would help stabilise the regional balance at a time of insurgency in Syria waged by Western-backed rebels.

Moscow is a staunch ally of Assad and it has appeared to grow more defiant since the European Union let its arms embargo on Syria expire as of June 1, opening up the possibility of the West arming the Syrian rebels.


"Syria has received the first shipment of Russian anti-aircraft S-300 rockets," Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar newspaper quoted Assad as saying in an interview due to be broadcast later on Thursday.
More of the missiles would arrive soon, he was quoted as saying.

A source close to Russia's Defence Ministry said there had been a "bank transfer" in connection with the S-300 transaction but that Russian banks were becoming increasingly nervous about dealing with Assad.

"There were some problems with payments because big Russian banks were scared of dealing with Assad, but there was a bank transfer," the source said. "There are also not big banks and banks that are not based in Moscow. Beyond the down payment there was almost certainly a second payment, maybe a third."

Last year, a source close to Russia's weapons export monopoly Rosoboronexport said Syria had paid 20 percent of the contract price, but that the S-300 deal was frozen because of the country's civil war.

The United States, France and Israel have all called on Russia to stop the missile delivery.

More than 80,000 people have been killed in Syria since peaceful protests against four decades of Assad family rule morphed into a civil war, pitting the president's forces and his ally, Hezbollah, against Syrian rebels and a flow of Sunni Islamist militants who have come to help them from abroad.

Moscow says the expiry of the EU embargo complicates U.S. and Russian-led efforts to set up a peace conference between the Syrian government and its opponents, who demand an immediate end to Assad family rule.

Read more from Reuters here.

Small Earthquake Hits Northern Wales

English: Plate tectonic movements measured by GPS devices.  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

An earthquake is still an earthquake no matter how small...

Earthquake hits Northern Wales

The British Geographical Society (BGS) have confirmed that an earthquake of a 2.3 magnitude took place around the area of Caernarfon, Wales on Thursday.
 

David Galloway from the BGS reported: “We’ve had about 40 or 50 people contact us last night with comments like ‘the window’s shook, the rumbling seemed to come beneath our feet, it was like a lorry crashing into the house’. It was the sorts of descriptions and reports that you get for an earthquake that size.” 

Mr Galloway added: “We record about 150 to 200 earthquakes somewhere in the UK every year. North West Scotland and North Wales are probably the most seismically active out of those areas”.

As well as Caernarfon, the earthquake was also felt in Anglesey, Bangor and Porthmadog. Many people spoke about their experience of the earthquake on social media sites, with one user using Twitter to express their surprise, tweeting: “Just felt an earthquake!!! North Wales.”

Anglesey resident Kevin Clark described being woken by a “deep rumbling sound,” saying: “It felt like a train was running around the outside of the house”. However he added that there was “no damage at all”.

Mr Galloway explained that due to the fact that “we live on a dynamic planet”, Britain will experience minor earthquakes on a regular basis.   

Source: The Upcoming