Gin Gun

Hyperloop One Test: Beginning of a New Transportation Era?

Hyperloop One on Wednesday announced that it had conducted a successful first test of a specially designed vehicle to travel in a vacuum environment. In the test, which took place earlier this year, the company achieved controlled propulsion and levitation of a Hyperloop One vehicle at 70 mph on a 315-foot test track in the Nevada desert. The test vehicle reached nearly 2Gs of acceleration during its brief 5.3 second test run
on the specially built track.
A comparison has been drawn between the Hyperloop accomplishment and the Wright Brothers' first test flight in December 1903. Just as brief as the Hyperloop One test, it is recognized as one of the key events in the evolution of manned flight. However, it took several years before airplane technology was refined and developed enough to move beyond the test stage.

Hyperloop One's vehicle test also represents a small step toward a potential giant leap to levitated transportation. The company was quick to note that history wasn't made by the event itself, but by the people responsible for making it happen. The startup had the support of nearly 200 engineers, machinists, welders and fabricators, who all worked together to reach a common goal.

Prince William and Prince Harry are to make royal cameos as stormtroopers in the next Star Wars film, actor John Boyega has confirmed.

Rumours that the pair might be making a surprise appearance in Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi have been circulating since the two royals visited the set at Pinewood Studios in April.

They have now been confirmed at an actors roundtable panel with the Hollywood Reporter, during which cast member Boyega also revealed Tom Hardy and Gary Barlow would be joining them.

Volvo's parent company envisions a world where in two years time, real-life flying cars could be hitting the open roads (and skies), finally fulfilling all of our sci-fi inspired fantasies of bi-modal travel.

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, the Chinese parent of auto brands Volvo and Lotus, just finalized its latest acquisition to snap up next-gen transportation startup Terrafugia. The company is best known for its futuristic flying car designs, the Transition and the TF-X — and with the new corporate support from Geely, Terrafugia is ready to set new targets for the crafts to be ready for flight.

Terrafugia says that it will aim to offer consumers a shot at personal street-to-sky transport by releasing the Transition to the market in 2019, then following up with the more accessible TF-X rig by 2023.

Wouldn't it be nice if you could follow a hashtag on Instagram?

It would, wouldn't it? We're glad you think so, because the Facebook-owned app is reportedly testing a new feature that'll let you do just that.
Currently, Instagram only lets you follow people. It's a system that works, but doesn't help you stay on top of trending hashtags or custom-made hashtags.

With Twitter, you can use apps like TweetDeck or Hootsuite to follow and keep tabs on specific hashtags instead of manually searching for them each and every time.

The ability to follow hashtags on Instagram looks like it would work the same way. It would also change the way we use Instagram. Users would be able to keep better tabs on topics that matter to them and it could also be very useful for keeping tabs on breaking news.

Who says that you have to turn up the water to have a better shower? Rua is a Kickstarter campaign that wants to deliver you a fuller shower and take up less water doing it.

Unlike traditional showerheads that are large circular hoses, Rua is uniquely designed as a geometric ring that can apparently deliver a wider shower with more even coverage across your body, according to the campaign page. Yet despite its powerful and even coverage, the Rua claims to use only 1.8 gallons of water per minute, which is supposedly 28% less output than traditional US showerheads exude.

Rua's mission statement is to deliver an optimal shower experience that anyone will enjoy while increasing water efficiency and decreasing its usage. Visit Rua's Kickstarter page to learn more and support the campaign, which will begin shipping in December.