Jvitak

Business Insider

We will have to wait a little bit longer before we get to see life-size pods shoot down Elon Musk's Hyperloop test track. 

SpaceX sent an email to student teams on Thursday letting them know that the final part of the competition would likely take place in August, or possibly even later.

Originally, SpaceX stated in the initial competition guidelines that the final round would take place in June.  

(SpaceX has since taken down the webpage for the original contest guidelines, but you can find a cached version here. Details about the date are on page 5.)

However, on the official Hyperloop website it just says "Summer 2016."

If you're not familiar, the final part of the competition is when student teams that were chosen during Design Weekend will have the opportunity to test out their human-sized pod design on a one-mile test track, which will be built outside SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, California. 

"Our best guess for Competition Weekend is early-to-mid August, but this could move in either direction (based on construction and post-construction testing)," the company said in the email obtained by Tech Insider. 

SpaceX said it will have more construction updates coming this spring, but students will be given six weeks notice ahead of the final competition date to arrange travel.  

Teams participating in the final round were selected during Design Weekend, which was hosted at Texas A&M University in January. Students showcased their designs to judges in order to advance to the next round. 

MIT's Hyperloop team won best overall design for its pod, but all in all, 30 teams qualified to move onto the final round. 

Business Insider

Another fun little tidbit included in the updated guidelines was more information about the dummy that will ride in all test pods. 

SpaceX said it will provide the dummy shown in the video below for teams to use in their pod. However, teams can also opt to bring their own, customized dummy. 

"Teams are welcome to bring a different one (e.g. a lighter one, a more flexible one, one wearing school swag, etc.)," the company said.

"The dummy does not have to be kept in a pressurized environment. However, as this is the safety guideline section, the dummy must be intact."

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NOW WATCH: The Best Features Of Elon Musk's Hyperloop

Sunday’s Los Angeles Marathon also served as the Trials for the U.S. Olympic marathon team, with 105 male qualifiers looking to book their trips to Rio. At the end of the day—closer to the end than the beginning, but that’s cool—was Chris Barnicle, solidly in 105th place.

Read more...

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) posted a tweet on Tuesday with a picture of a gun with his name inscribed upon it. The tweet went viral almost immediately, inspiring criticism and parody memes with inevitable "Star Wars" jokes.

Bush has made defending a broad interpretation of Second Amendment rights a pillar of his presidential campaign. On Friday, Bush said that if former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton became president, her likely US Supreme Court justice picks would attempt to eliminate the amendment entirely.

"If Hillary Clinton gets the four Supreme Court justices, the Second Amendment won't exist," Bush said. "It just won't."

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NOW WATCH: Donald Trump on the Lewinsky scandal: It's 'fair game'

Just in case you thought those images of Jason Pierre-Paul’s right hand , mangled in a fireworks accident, were just a bit of Rick Baker prosthetic magic, nope. Pierre-Paul has changed his avatar on Twitter and Instagram to the above X-ray, and you can see just how fucked up those fingers are.

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Today, the New Yorker published its long-awaited (in media circles, at least) deep dive into how gossip juggernaut TMZ does business. There’s plenty of information to pick through, but the details of how TMZ obtained videos of Ray Rice’s assault on his wife Janay should be of particular interest to sports fans.

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 At New York’s Toy Fair trade show over the weekend, Mattel unveiled its new, $300 3D Printer, the “ThingMaker,” which will allow children to print their own toys at home. The device works in conjunction with a 3D printing app developed in collaboration with Autodesk that offers a simple interface for designing items that can then come to life via Mattel’s… Read More

The 2016 presidential election is beginning to heat up. And it turns out the first-primary state also features the least-religious voters in the country.

Gallup recently released a report aggregating their 2015 daily tracking poll data with over 174,000 responses nationwide. The report showed how many people in each state identify as very religious, somewhat religious, and non-religious.

The non-religious population varied widely across states. Mississippi had the lowest proportion of non-religious residents, at just 11%. The highest proportion was in first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire, with 55% of Granite State residents identifying as non-religious.

Here's the percentage of each state's population that identifies as non-religious. For more detail, check out the Gallup post here.

Business Insider/Andy Kiersz, data from Gallup

NOW WATCH: A Harvard Law professor explains why he thinks Ted Cruz is ineligible to run for president

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Twitter's new algorithms have arrived

The company pushed out an update Wednesday that makes its much-talked-about timeline redesign official. The new feature, which is live on Twitter's app and website now, will show tweets that are sorted based on relevancy, rather than chronology, at the top of your timeline.

While this is a significant update for Twitter, it's by no means the end of the reverse-chronological timeline, which has been one of the service's signature features, despite the fears of vocal users.

The change is strictly opt-in — at least for now. As of today, you won't see the feature unless you manually activate it in your account settings. This will, however, change at some point in the next few weeks. After the feature has been out in the wild long enough for people to get used to it, the company will switch it on for everyone — though users will still be able to opt out through their settings Read more...

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Republican Senator Ted Cruz's latest attack ad features a Donald Trump action figure and a trio of three young boys trashing the real estate mogul. 

Produced by Emma Fierberg

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Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller was rightfully named Super Bowl MVP after another dominant performance on Sunday.

Miller finished with six tackles, 2.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles, playing a huge part in the Broncos' pass rush that shut down Cam Newton.

Miller has been one of the NFL's fiercest defenders since entering the league in 2011, but part of his strong season can be traced to a more strict diet he took up in the offseason.

According to Denver Post's Nicki Jhabvala, Miller spoke to reporters and said he cut out most red meat — burgers, steak, and pork — began drinking water over Gatorade, and cut out junk food like ice cream.

"I was in pretty good shape last year, but I want to go to another level. It's always about how far you can push yourself and how much you can better yourself. I definitely feel like I'm in better shape than I was coming in to OTAs (organized team activities), and I feel like I'll be in better shape going into training camp."

...

"Sometimes you just have to step away from the burgers and stuff. It might not be hurting you, but it's definitely not helping you."

Miller added, "When the fourth quarter rolls around, I don't want to be thinking about the ice cream I had the night before."

Miller had also proclaimed that Denver would be the best defense in the NFL, and he was right. The Broncos finished the season with the best defense, and they continued to terrorize opposing quarterbacks in the postseason. In the AFC Championship, Miller once again had 2.5 sacks and an interception, clobbering Tom Brady in the process.

After such a successful season, it's safe to assume Miller won't be reverting back to his own diet this offseason.

NOW WATCH: Here’s the question that prompted Cam Newton to storm out of his post-game press conference

iBleeedorange posted this pretty GIF that shows the 5-fold pattern traced out by an imaginary line between the Earth and Venus.

Sunsunsun made an audio representation of the orbital relationship between Earth and Venus:

The left side is Venus and the right side is Earth. It takes about 1:36 to synch up, but it almost synchs up (the planets would be directly opposite each other) around 46 seconds in. Each 8 bars represents an orbit around the sun. Do not listen to this without headphones, it makes no sense without being able to separate them.

Make you own "dances of the planets" here. [via]

You should never judge a book by its cover, but it's kind of OK to judge someone by their name.

Especially when your name is Beezow Doo-doo Zoppitybop-bop-bop.

Zoppitybop-bop-bop, who legally changed his name from Drew Wilschke in 2011, appeared in Oregon's Thurston County Supreme Court on Thursday. He's there on charges of assaulting an Evergreen County police officer and a Thurston County deputy.

The suspect was first sighted tearing down fliers at a library on Sunday, officials said. When an officer attempted to stop him, Zopittybop-bop-bop then allegedly bit the officer, fled the scene and then threw a heavy brick at a nearby deputy. Read more...

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Maryland Judge Robert Nalley pleaded guilty Monday to ordering deputies to shock a defendant with a 50,000-volt charge. Nalley, who presided over Charles County Circuit Court, reportedly agreed to a plea deal whereby he receives a year of probation.

It's not Nalley's first trouble, either: In 2010, he pleaded guilty to tampering with a vehicle after deflating the tires of a cleaning woman's car, to punish her for parking in his space. For that, he was suspended for five days without pay.

CBS News reports that he was charged with violating the victim's rights in the July 2014 stun cuff incident. The maximum sentence is a year in jail and a fine of $100,000.

During jury selection, the defendant, reading from a prepared statement, objected to Nalley's authority to conduct the proceedings. After the man repeatedly ignored Nalley's questions and his commands to stop speaking, Nalley ordered a deputy sheriff to activate a "stun-cuff" the defendant was wearing.

"Do it. Use it," Nalley said.

The defendant stopped speaking when the deputy sheriff approached him and activated the device, which administered an electric shock for about five seconds. The defendant fell to the ground and screamed and Nalley then recessed the proceedings, according to the plea deal's statement of facts.

Ars Technica's David Kravets reports that stun cuffs are the hot new thing.

[Victim/defendant Delvon L.] King eventually agreed to serve two years after withdrawing a motion for a new trial. In that motion, he said he could not adequately represent himself out of fear of being shocked again. The authorities said King was wearing a stun cuff because they said he had fled from an earlier court proceeding.

The authorities are increasingly using stun cuffs, which are about the size of a deck of cards, at detention centers and courthouses. They are made by various companies and cost around $1,900 for a device and transmitter. Some models can shock at 80,000 volts.

The judge was banned from the bench in September 2014.

The Sept. 5 decision by the Maryland Court of Appeals came as the result of a request from the Maryland Office of the Public Defender following a report in The Baltimore Examiner Aug. 26, 2014 alleging Nalley told a deputy to use an electronic shock device on defendant Delvon Louis King in the courtroom July 23. … Nalley retired after a 2009 incident when he was found responsible for removing air from the tires of someone who parked in his space at the courthouse in La Plata.

He was reinstated as a 7th Judicial Circuit of Maryland encompassing all three Southern Maryland and Prince George’s County in December of last year [2013].

Most of the time, balloons are just full of helium, and maybe confetti. Unless you're living in South Korea.

In January, North Korea began sending over balloons to South Korea full of used toilet paper, cigarette butts, and propaganda messages, according to The Telegraph

"Stop the anti-North psychological warfare broadcasts that light the fuse of war," some of the messages read. Others encouraged residents to, "Knock out the gang of [South Korean leader] Park Geun-hye."

Image: Xinhua News Agency/Getty

It's unclear how effective North Korean's marketing campaign will be, since human excrement doesn't exactly inspire warm and fuzzy feelings. Over the past few weeks, the messages appear to have grown even more grotesque, with some going so far as to label Geun-hye, "political filth." Read more...

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Apple was granted a patent on Tuesday for technology that would let you hover or wave your hands to control your devices without touching them, according to Patently Apple. 

In the patent, Apple describes devices using proximity sensors to detect your hands hovering or waving above the device. The proximity sensors would be similar to those that detect your face and turn off the screen while you're holding up an iPhone to your face for a phone call. 

Apple also describes that you could use some features simply by waving your hand above the device or using a combination of touch (on a surface or screen) and waving.

Some Android phones already use proximity sensors for certain features. The Motorola Moto X, for example, detects when your hand approaches the phone to wake the display and show you quick bits of information, like notifications, without having to press any buttons. It's a nifty feature that makes it easier to get a quick glance of your phone's activity.

Samsung also uses a proximity sensor for several features, like setting a timer to take selfies, making calls automatically when lifting your phone to you face, muting when you place your phone face down, and swiping over the screen to take a screenshot. 

Antonio Villas-Boas/Tech Insider

Using proximity sensors would be yet another way to interact with your Apple devices. The company recently introduced 3D Touch displays on the iPhone 6s and Force Touch trackpads for its laptops, which bring up useful shortcuts and features when you apply more pressure than a regular tap.

Keep in mind, however, that this is only a patent. Like so many Apple patents before this, it's entirely likely that proximity-based features will never see the light of day.

NOW WATCH: The 8 new Apple products to watch out for this year

Generic man Martin O’Malley ended his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination last night. The Iowa caucus was rough on the former Baltimore mayor and Maryland governor: Once poll-workers sorted out the caucus-goers who thought they were standing in line to get their photo taken with “that guy from, uh, like, NCIS or one of the CSIs or whatever,” he came away with a measly one percent of the vote, comprising kindly geriatrics whom he reminded of their grandson. Don’t you think he looks like my Timmy?

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When "Star Wars Battlefront" launched last year, it arrived just in time for the first new "Star Wars" in over 10 years.

Unfortunately for fans of the new film, "The Force Awakens," none of the new characters are in "Battlefront." But today, a new hope emerged in "Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens."

Yes, that is Finn (aka "FN-2187"), in all his Lego-riffic glory. And he's not alone!

Head below with us for a look at many of the characters from "The Force Awakens" re-born in a new game arriving this June.

First things first: yes, BB-8 is in "Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens"!

TT Games

As is the movie's main heroine, Rey, looking especially Lego-y:

TT Games

But it's not just characters getting the Lego treatment: here's the Millennium Falcon taking on a gaggle of TIE fighters!

TT Games

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

If you've ever watched the 1993 comedy classic Groundhog Day and thought "That looks like fun," you're going to have a good holiday. From TV channels with a sense of humor to niche movie theaters, there are plenty of ways to marathon this marathon movie on Groundhog Day.

Comedy Central starts airing the Harold Ramis and Bill Murray film at 11:21 A.M. ET on the dot — set your Sunny and Cher alarm now — followed by three more back-to-back airings. If that doesn't fit your schedule, there's always the DIY option via Amazon, Google Play or YouTube. Read more...

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The White House has denied a security clearance to a member of its technology team who previously helped report on documents leaked by Edward Snowden.

Ashkan Soltani, a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist and recent staffer at the Federal Trade Commission, recently began working with the White House on privacy, data ethics and technical outreach.

The partnership raised eyebrows when it was announced in December because of Soltani’s previous work with the Washington Post, where he helped analyze and protect a cache of National Security Agency documents leaked by Snowden.

His departure raises questions about the US government’s ability to partner with the broader tech community, where people come from a more diverse background than traditional government staffers.

It also suggests that nearly three years later, the Snowden episode remains a highly charged issue inside the Obama administration.

Recently some current and former administration officials said the former NSA contractor sparked a “necessary debate” on surveillance, even if they disagreed with his tactics.

It remains unclear exactly why the White House parted ways with Soltani.

In December, Megan Smith, White House chief technology officer and a former Google executive, welcomed him to her team with an effusive post on Twitter that referenced Soltani’s account handle, @Ashk4n.

Excited to welcome our extraordinary colleague @Ashk4n to @whitehouseOSTP! #TechiesInGov #Data #Privacy #Innovation pic.twitter.com/iPiD9XM89r

— Megan Smith (@USCTO) December 16, 2015

Soltani since then has been on loan from the FTC to the White House. He was in the process of getting approved for a clearance to work in one of America’s most secured office buildings. Soltani said he passed his drug test and the Federal Bureau of Investigation hadn’t yet finished his background check, meaning it would have been too early for the bureau to weigh in on his employment.

“This is something that happens from time to time, and I won’t speculate on the reasons,” Soltani said in a statement provided to the Guardian. “I am proud of my work, I passed the mandatory drug screening some time ago and the FBI background check was still underway. There was also no allegation that it was based on my integrity or the quality of my work.”

A White House official said: “Ashkan Soltani was on a detail to the Office of Science and Technology Policy from the Federal Trade Commission, and his detail has ended.”

Christopher Soghoian, principal technologist with the American Civil Liberties Union, said he wouldn’t speculate on why Soltani was being denied a job, though he did note that he published many stories that likely irked America’s intelligence officials.

“My guess is there are people who are never going to forgive him for that,” said Soghoian, who lauded Soltani’s technical acumen.

“At a time when the government can’t get cybersecurity right they deeply need people like Ashkan in the White House,” he said.

The move is a blow for Smith, the White House CTO, who has spent the past year trying to lure more pure-blood technologists to government. It can be a tough sell. Compared to Silicon Valley, the pay is less, the hours are longer and the cafeteria isn’t free.

Soltani, 41 years old, has been drawn to working on public policy issues since spending years as a private security researcher. In addition to the Post, he has worked with the New York Times, the University of California Berkeley and the Wall Street Journal. In October of 2014 he joined the FTC as its chief technologist, where he worked on consumer protection issues.

He, along with his Post colleagues and the Guardian, won a Pulitzer prize in 2014 for their coverage of the Snowden affair.

So like many techies before him, Soltani said he now likely will leave Washington.

“I’m definitely ready to go back to the west coast for a bit,” said Soltani, an avid mountain biker. “I just wish I hadn’t spent all my money on suits instead of bike parts.”

This article originally appeared on guardian.co.uk

This article was written by Danny Yadron in San Francisco from The Guardian and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.

NOW WATCH: Hidden Facebook tricks you need to know

The Gulfstream, tail number N977GA, was given permission to land in and fly over Denmark, and spent some time parked in Copenhagen, waiting to snatch Edward Snowden and kidnap him to America. (more…)

 Oh my god. Uber has finally done it. They’ve made my dreams come true. Uber wants you to “paws whatever you’re doing,” because in honor of this week’s Puppy Bowl, the company is teaming up with Animal Planet, the SF SPCA, Peninsula Humane Society, and Berkeley Humane Society to deliver on-demand puppies to your house to hang out with you for a bit. The puppy… Read More

Warriors forward Draymond Green sat down for a regular old interview with CSN Bay Area yesterday afternoon, when a familiar voice came on the line. It was his mother, Mary Babers-Green, with some exciting news: Green had been chosen to the West’s all-star reserves.

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For many men, ball fondling is key to physical health. Nobody knows this better than actor Ryan Reynolds (and thousands of doctors worldwide).

The Deadpool star made a video, released today, encouraging men to practice regular ball scratching — okay, the technical term is "monthly testicular exams." Men can perform such exams with or without the assistance of a doctor. And while not entirely foolproof, ball-fondling/exams are now a key part of preventive care.

Who better to teach you how to perform a serious medical procedure than the star of Van Wilder: Party Liaison ?

Ethical or not, the video is hilarious. And there are dick puns. Check it out for yourself. Read more...

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Michael Phelps, who has been training at Arizona State in advance of the upcoming Olympics, participated in the ASU student section’s Curtain of Distraction during tonight’s game against Oregon State. And wouldn’t you know it, OSU guard Stephen Thompson Jr. missed both of his free throws.

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The ongoing occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in eastern Oregon has divided public opinion for weeks, and now a doughnut commemorating the arrest of the group's leader is doing the same

Two days after Ammon Bundy was arrested and booked in a Portland-area jail Tuesday night, famed Portland bakery Voodoo Doughnut posted a photo to its Instagram Thursday of a doughnut bearing Bundy's face (modeled off his mug shot,) which is shown behind bars and accompanied by the words "Welcome to Portland."

Bundy, along with multiple members of his militia group, was arrested after a more than three-week long standoff with the federal government, prompted by disagreements over land ownership and the takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in early January. One group member, 54-year-old Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, was killed during a shootout with authorities that night Read more...

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North Korea's claim that it detonated a hydrogen bomb during an apparent nuclear-weapons test on January 6 were widely dismissed by experts and the US government as well. But it turns out that Pyongyang might have tested components from a hydrogen bomb after all.

According to CNN, inconclusive sampling of air near the test site by US spy aircraft, along with the unusual depth at which the test is believed to have occurred, have led some US officials to suspect that North Korea actually did test elements of a hydrogen device.

"The test was conducted more than two times deeper underground than originally assessed — at a depth consistent with what might be needed for a hydrogen bomb," CNN reports, while cautioning that "the size of the seismic event and other intelligence indicates it was not likely a fully functioning device."

Seismic information indicates that North Korea tested a weapon with a comparable explosive yield to the nuclear device the country detonated during its last previous test in 2013 — a 10-kiloton bomb that created a fireball one-fifth of a mile wide. After the January 6 test, numerous arms-control experts said it was highly unlikely that North Korea had tested a hydrogen bomb, though possible it had tested a more typical fission-based atomic weapon "boosted" with hydrogen isotopes for increased yield.

Even a failed test of hydrogen-bomb components could signal an alarming shift in North Korea's weapons capabilities.

A hydrogen bomb, aka a thermonuclear weapon, uses a plutonium- or uranium-based reaction to heat hydrogen isotopes, creating a kind of nuclear-feedback loop with the potential to dramatically boost the amount of energy that reaction ends up releasing. A thermonuclear weapon is more complicated and destructive than a typical atomic bomb.

As Alex Wellerstein, a nuclear historian at the Steven Institute of Technology and creator of Nuke Map, told Business Insider on January 6, a country that's mastered thermonuclear-weapons design suddenly has a number of possible options open to it.

For instance, a country with a thermonuclear capability could build "a very thin-cased bomb of low yield [in this case 1 to 10 kilotons, or 1,000 to 10,000 tons of TNT] that would emit a lot of radiation relative to its blast power."

The so-called neutron bomb, or "enhanced radiation," weapon isn't all that hard to develop once a country has mastered more basic hydrogen-bomb technology.

KCNA/Reuters

North Korea would still face the technical hurdle of miniaturizing a hydrogen device for delivery by ballistic missile. The US wasn't able to construct a functioning neutron bomb of any size or weight without extensive testing, and North Korea may not have the testing data or carried out the trial-and-error process needed to actually build a functioning hydrogen device.

But if North Korea really did test hydrogen-bomb components, it could signal an interest in eventually developing far more destructive weaponry — bombs of horrifically high yield whose development might not remain outside Pyongyang's technological grasp for long.

The CNN report provides some of the most direct evidence that the January 6 test might have been carried out with this goal in mind.

NOW WATCH: Here's footage of El Chapo being escorted on a plane after being recaptured

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Stepping into a management role for the first time can be scary.

It doesn't help that there's a ton of conflicting management advice out there, and sifting through it could take years.

That's why we recommend starting with these 10 books, which offer practical insights on leading a team.

We didn't simply stick with traditional business reads — instead we included novels, psychological research, and the musings of a Roman emperor.

Each of these books will help prepare you to tackle the myriad challenges of managing people.

'Drive' by Daniel H. Pink

Amazon

Now that you're in charge of a team of people, how will you inspire them to perform at their best?

In this bestselling business book, Pink explains why, contrary to popular belief, extrinsic incentives like money aren't the best way to motivate high performance. Instead, employers should focus on cultivating in their workers a sense of autonomy, mastery, and purpose in order to help them succeed.

Using real-life anecdotes and research, Pink walks readers through each of these three concepts and why they're absolutely crucial in the business world.

Find it here >>

'The One Thing You Need to Know' by Marcus Buckingham

Amazon

According to Buckingham, great managers are able to identify their employees' individual strengths and capitalize on them. This approach, he argues, is considerably more effective than trying to improve people's weak points.

Among the tips he offers for motivating high performance: Set clear expectations, offer praise and recognition, and show people you care about them.

It's a compelling read that will make the transition from managing yourself to managing others that much easier.

Find it here >>

'Thinking, Fast and Slow' by Daniel Kahneman

Amazon

This 2011 bestseller is a favorite of Jack Zenger, cofounder and CEO of leadership consultancy Zenger/Folkman.

Kahneman, a psychologist who won the Nobel Prize in economics, breaks down all of human thought into two systems: the fast and intuitive "System 1" and the slow and deliberate "System 2." Using this framework, he lays out a number of cognitive biases that affect our everyday behavior, from the halo effect to the planning fallacy.

As you transition into people management, this book will help you anticipate the psychological stumbling blocks you and your team will encounter, and give you scientific strategies for overcoming them.

Find it here >>

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