Failure to Launch

 

Identified Flying Objects

The future is here and it's not all it was cracked up to be.  For example, one of the great disappointments of the 21st century, thus far, is the lack of flying cars.  Wasn't this supposed to be the signature achievement of Tomorrowland?

The Terrafugia flying car – this one was actually said to be in development a little while ago with the maiden flight of the prototype scheduled for 2018. Is the Age of the Jetsons finally beginning? One thing is clear: once this car becomes widely available, we can finally go about abolishing the State. The question "Who will build the roads?" will once and for all be laid to rest!

Image credit: Terrafugia

The frustration was aptly expressed by PayPal co-founder and early Facebook investor Peter Thiel when he said, "We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters."  Of course, the 140 character reference is in regard to Twitter and its 140 character limit per tweet.

Indeed, Twitter is a second-rate alternative to flying cars.  What's more, it has the ill-effect of reducing people's brains to mashed potatoes.  In place of well-reasoned and thoughtful discourse, Twitter promotes inane statements from Congressional representatives and even the President.

But all is not lost.  For the flying car will soon be a reality.  The IFO – or Identified Flying Object – is a proposed two seat concept drone that looks like a UFO.  Not only does it fly.  It's safe too.  According to its specifications, if the eight battery powered electric rotary engines run out of juice, the cockpit detaches and a parachute releases and safely guides the passengers to the ground.

From what we gather, the IFO concept isn't all that novel.  Backyard enthusiasts have been developing and test piloting these contraptions for years.  We suppose these experimental flights are uninsured. What's the point?

Homemade passenger drone – a spiritual heir of the Wright brothers takes off in his backyard. The real miracle is not that this thing apparently can indeed fly (well, sort of), it is rather that he hasn't been regulated and fined out of existence yet…

Financial Psychopaths

The point is, soon you'll be able to have your cake and eat it too.  Specifically, you'll be able to rifle off 140 character tweets from the comfort of your flying car.  Does it get any better than that?

Naturally, it depends who you ask.  Tweets from flying cars are not for everyone.  For instance, one fellow may prefer a jumbo cola and a hot dog at a Major League Baseball game.  Another may favor reading a Dickens novel from a mountain cabin in the woods.

It comes down to choices and individual preferences.  Yet in today's world, constructed through financial engineering, certain choices and individual preferences are grossly penalized.  Specifically, hard work, diligent saving, and paying one's way are virtues that are punished with exacting deception.

Of course, as we all know, the Fed doesn't care about stock prices. Only sometimes…  when they go down for instance – click to enlarge.

The crafty wizards at the Federal Reserve have contrived a world of declining interest rates for over 35-years.  Presently, savers get next to nothing on their capital.  Leverage addicted madmen, on the other hand, get rich.

In particular, financial psychopaths have been able to borrow gobs of money, plow it into assets – like stocks, bonds, and real estate – and then refinance every several years at lower and lower rates.  Plus, if that wasn't good enough, they could count on the Fed to induce perpetually higher asset prices to bail them out if they got into a pinch.

Failure to Launch

Since December 15, roughly three and a half months ago, the Federal Reserve has raised the federal funds rate two times, by 25 basis points per rate increase.  The last time the Fed increased the federal funds rate by this amount was over a decade ago.  What do credit markets make of it?

If you can believe it, the yield on the 10-Year Treasury note has not gone up over this period.  Rather, it's gone down.  From 2.58 percent on December 15 to 2.42 percent as of market close on Thursday.

The 10-year treasury yield and the effective federal funds rate – the blue rectangle on the right hand side contains the time period discussed above… and wouldn't you know, treasury note yields have indeed declined in the face of two rate hikes. Let's see – is it those evil Asian savers again, with their "savings glut"? We seem to dimly remember a certain Mr. Bernanke partly blaming those yellow peril money hoarders for the last bubble (i.e., the one that raged before he proved he could produce an even bigger one). Part of the bla me also went to the "lack of regulations" in what was at the time one of the most heavily regulated sectors of the economy…  whatever it was, it wasn't the Fed's fault! – click to enlarge.

What's going on?  Is the Fed yet again manning the monetary controls without a clue?  Are the stagnant yields a sign that, once again, and despite many attempts following the Great Recession, the economy has had yet another failure to launch?

No doubt, time will tell.  However, at the moment, the commercial credit market has offered several utterances on the matter.  Here we'll turn to The Telegraph for explanation:

"One key measure of US corporate borrowing is falling at the fastest rate since the onset of the Lehman Brothers crisis.  Money supply growth in the US has also slowed markedly.  These monetary and credit signals tend to be leading indicators for the real economy.

"Data from the US Federal Reserve shows that the $2 trillion market for commercial and industrial loans peaked in December.  The sector has weakened abruptly as lenders tighten credit, especially for non-residential property.  Over the last three months it has dropped at a rate of 5.4pc on annual basis, a pace of decline not seen since December 2008.

"The deterioration in the broader $9 trillion market for loans and leases has been less dramatic but it too is shrinking, falling at a 1.6pc rate on a three-month basis.  'Corporate lending has ground to a halt and I am staggered that the Fed is raising rates.  They have made a very big mistake,' said Patrick Perret-Green from AdMacro."

Y/y growth rates of money TMS-2 (broad true US money supply) and commercial & industrial loans. We have discussed this topic in a recent post on corporate debt entitled "LIBOR Pains".  The sharp decline in bank lending to companies is a bit ominous. Usually is a leading indicator of economic activity and in the absence of QE it will definitely lead to a further slowdown in money supply growth. Note: This is the datum that matters most for the asset bubble. We strongly recommend keeping an eye on these data series – click to enlarge.

Certainly, the Fed always makes big mistakes.  The long and short of it is fixing the price of credit via a central planning authority is a fool's game.  For whatever reason, Yellen and her cohorts are compelled to go after it with gusto – even as they further distort the world into absurdity.

Their plan, you see, is to fix their mistakes with even bigger mistakes.  When the credit market cracks in earnest, they'll follow it up with something especially foolish.

Charts by St. Louis Federal Rserve Research

Chart and image captions by PT

MN Gordon is President and Founder of Direct Expressions LLC, an independent publishing company. He is the Editorial Director and Publisher of the Economic Prism – an E-Newsletter that tries to bring clarity to the muddy waters of economic policy and discusses interesting investment opportunities.

   

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Source: Failure to Launch

Czech Pilot Takes His Flying Car On Coffee Run, Then Takes To Skies

For most people, flying cars feel more like science fiction than reality. Other people, however, already are using the futuristic vehicles for practical purposes.

A video uploaded to YouTube recently by Jaroslav Jindra shows Pavel Brezina, a Czech pilot and product manager at AGN Systems — according to Flying Magazine — taking a flying car though the streets of Prague. The vehicle, named the Auto Gyro Cavalon, was designed by AGN Systems. Brezina, however, modified the car, eventually renaming it the Gyrodrive.

As you'll see, the Gyrodrive is pretty convenient both on the ground, and in the air.

The Gyrodrive is a force to be reckoned with in the skies, but not so much on the ground. When flying, the vehicle can reach speeds just shy of 112 mph, according to Flying Magazine. When driving on the street, though, it tops out at around 25 mph.

It might not be long before the Gyrodrive has a lot of company in the clouds. Dutch manufacturer Pal-V has begun taking pre-orders for the extremely expensive Pal-V Liberty, and Airbus recently revealed a concept vehicle that is capable of both driving on land and being carried by a drone.

Source: Czech Pilot Takes His Flying Car On Coffee Run, Then Takes To Skies

Will Power is impressed by IndyCar's next-generation aero kit

After having a chance to dissect the computer-generated renderings of the IndyCar universal aero kit, Team Penske driver Will Power likes what he sees.

"I think the car looks good with the low engine cover and the cool rear wing," Power told Autoweek. "It's a definite improvement on what we had. I think it should make it a much better car to race.

"This puts it back to more of an open-wheel type of car, and it reduces rear weight. That is a big help. I'm glad they are moving the radiators forward and getting rid of some of the weight in the rear. That was a real problem. I think they are going to have a nice-looking car."

Power does see room for improvement and believes with the additional downforce generated from the underwing rather than on top of the car, he would like to see less downforce than on today's cars.

"They have to make sure they take enough downforce off the car to make the braking zones longer, so there is more potential for passing, " Power said. "Right now, the braking zones are a little too compressed.

IndyCar released the next step in the universal aero kit process on Wednesday with the computer-generated illustrations of the kit that will be used on both the Chevrolet and Honda cars beginning next season.

Power, the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series champion, believes IndyCar accomplished nearly half of its goals with the next aero kit.

"They wanted to make the racing better, make the car look better and get rid of some of that heavy stuff hanging off the back bumpers," he said.

IndyCar's "Era of Aero" began in 2015 when Honda and Chevrolet used two competitive kits to differentiate between the two brands while improving performance. Instead, it split the field in half with Chevrolet having a decided edge over Honda on the street, road courses and short ovals while Honda was competitive on the superspeedways in 2015.

Honda sought relief from IndyCar and was granted the ability to make changes outside of the three areas of the kit where each manufacturer was able to update. That closed the gap significantly in 2016, and those rules have been frozen for the 2017 season.

Early response from teams and fans has been positive to the initial design of the universal kit that makes the cars look sleeker and faster. Some believe it is the best-looking car since the Panoz DP01, the last chassis designed for the Champ Car Series before it went out of business in February 2008. Nearly all of Champ Car's teams joined the Indy Racing League to create today's Verizon IndyCar Series.

Power drove two races in Champ Car in 2005 and was a full-time competitor in the series in 2006 and 2007 before moving over to IndyCar with KV Racing in 2008. He joined Team Penske in 2009 and has established himself as one of the great drivers in this era with 29 wins and 45 poles.

"That DP01 was such a good car –- it's a real pity they didn't hang with that for a while," Power said.

There are some additional changes Power would like to see before the universal aero kit goes into production.

"I think the rear wing needs to be moved forward towards the engine," Power said. "That would help weight distribution and make the car look better. And the rear wing needs to be lower, not higher. Formula 1 has a lower, wider rear wing that makes the car look tough. When you get up to speed, something that sticks up like the rear wing makes it look weird."

One noteworthy change to the universal aero kit is the removal of the rear bumper guards. Those have been part of the original Dallara DW012 chassis since it began competition in 2012. It was designed to keep another car from running over the top of the rear wheels and getting launched, as what happened in the horrific 15-car pileup that killed two-time Indianapolis 500 winning driver Dan Wheldon at Las Vegas on Oct. 16, 2011.

Power went airborne in that crash and suffered a broken back. He is in favor of keeping the rear bumper guard for superspeedway races.

"The bumper guard did exactly what they wanted them to do because in a lot of cases (they) stopped cars from jumping over the back wheels," Power said. "It's not going to stop a car when there is a hu ge speed discrepancy. What else it did was stop cut tires.

"I think the original rear bumper was the right size and then they got out of control with this big one. I think on the superspeedways they should still have it. I really think so."

Power has expressed that viewpoint to IndyCar officials and he believes they are considering it. He is glad the holes drilled into the floor on superspeedways remain because "you can't have cars flying" but it is ok to fill them on street, road and short oval races. The holes on the bottom of the car create more drag if the car starts to come off the ground and pulls it back to the surface.

Source: Will Power is impressed by IndyCar's next-generation aero kit

US military's 'Gremlin' program lets pilots launch and snag drones in midair

The U.S. military is developing a fairy-tale-inspired "Gremlin" program that aims to launch and retrieve drones in midair.

"Gremlins" are a swarm of drones that can be deployed from a manned aircraft, according to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the branch of the U.S. military charged with developing new and innovative technologies for the nation's war fighters. The Gremlin program will allow aircraft pilots to launch the drones as needed, and call them back to the transport plane while both are still in flight.

DARPA announced the Gremlin concept in 2015, when the agency called for proof-of-concept designs for the first phase of the project.

Now, DARPA is moving on to the second phase, which will see the continued development of two ideas, according to Scott Wierzbanowski, DARPA program manager. [Humanoid Robots to Flying Cars: 10 Coolest DARPA Projects]

"The Phase 1 program showed the feasibility of airborne [drone] launch and recovery systems that would require minimal modification to the host aircraft," Wierzbanowski said in a statement . "We're aiming in Phase 2 to mature two system concepts to enable 'aircraft carriers in the sky' using air-recoverable [drones] that could carry various payloads — advances that would greatly extend the range, flexibility, and affordability of [drone] operations for the U.S. military."

Phase 2 research will focus on completing designs for full-scale Gremlin drone demonstrations. The program will eventually move to Phase 3, which will result in one full-scale system demonstration that includes the airborne launch and recovery of multiple Gremlins.

DARPA is currently scheduled to conduct flight tests for the program in 2019.

Original article on Live Science.

Source: US military's 'Gremlin' program lets pilots launch and snag drones in midair

Flying bong slices man’s hand during argument over a lighter in Pasco

An argument over a lighter changed to possible vandalism then an assault, where a man nearly bled to death in Pasco on Saturday.

At 10:22 p.m. a man entered the Conoco convenience store and gas station in the 1900 block of West Court Street and wanted to return a mini-torch lighter three weeks after he bought it, said police. The store owner declined.

The owner told police the customer began knocking large glass bongs off a counter, breaking them to cause about $400 damage. The owner allegedly grabbed the last glass bong and threatened the customer who left and got into a car.

While the customer was starting to drive away, police say the owner threw the bong through the driver's side window, breaking the glass bong and severely cutting the back of customer's hand.

The customer stopped the car and the owner called 911. Police say they argued as the customer bled and the owner provided a scarf to use as a bandage.

Officer Dave Herrera arrived, notice the wound and applied direct pressure until an ambulance arrived.

"The medics described Officer Herrera's actions as 'life saving,'" said police.

Police said the two men argued about whether there was intent to destroy the bongs, but agreed on how the injury occurred.

The owner is Nawas Nader Salha, 32, of Richland, and he was booked into the Franklin County jail on suspicion of second-degree assault. The customer could face a misdemeanor charge of malicious mischief.

"The moral of this story is: Let the police handle things like this for you. We are a 24-hour service. If you find yourself in a position similar to the owner … consider taking a deep breath and being a good witness, particularly if it is someone you can identify, or a license plate you can pass on," said police.

Source: Flying bong slices man's hand during argument over a lighter in Pasco

Soon, Flying Taxis Are Going to Be Soaring Through a Sky Near You

Let's open with the pretty and shiny stuff. It turns out an aerial innovator has just flown his own invention, the Flyboard Air, a whopping distance of 2,252 meters. He basically smashed through the old record of 275 meters, going at a height of 30 meters above water, at a top speed of around 70 km/h. That's an impressive achievement!

Unfortunately, it doesn't mean anything for a future of flying cars.

The main reason for my lack of enthusiasm is that the hoverboard is powered by jet fuel – A1 kerosene carried on the user's back. As long as flying cars are powered by conventional fossil fuels, they won't find their way into common use. Flying simply takes too much energy, and fossil fuels are too expensive and harmful to the environment to be used to power such wasteful activity. The only flying cars that have a chance to succeed are ones that operate on electricity, and that's only if we assume that electricity is about to become abundant due to the exponential rise in solar energy use.

So this is probably just another pretty invention, but when such inventions appear on the market one after the other, one starts to see a trend. You can't ignore the fact that aerial drones capable of carrying a human passenger begin to appear more and more on the news. Will all these innovations lead to an actual flying taxi service? Only if the two conditions I specified in the original post about flying cars come true: they need to be electric, and they need to be autonomous so that you don't have an expensive (and prone to mistakes) human pilot.

The Flying Taxis of the Future

In the last two months, exciting things have happened for e-volo: the manufacturer of the world's first certified Multicopter (i.e. a helicopter with multiple rotors).

The Multicopter has received a permit to fly from the German authorities in February 2016. The certified Multicopter's first manned flight took place at the end of March, and ended with absolutely no issues. The pilot controlled the vehicle easily with a single joystick, and the Multicopter was stable and autonomous enough to retain its position automatically even when the pilot released his hand from the joystick.

Click to View Full Infographic

The vehicle can reach a speed of up to 100 km/h, with 18 rotors powered by nine independent batteries, and a 450 kg take-off weight. The large number of rotors and batteries means that even if one of them fails, the Multicopter can still stay high in the air. Since the Multicopter relies on electric motors, it is one of the top candidates in the race to become the world's first air taxi.

Which is exactly what e-volo, the company behind the Multicopter, is trying to do.

According to ASM International, e-volo is looking to create a new market of air taxi services. In the short term, they plan to use the personal vehicles on certain predetermined routes, where there will be no chance for collision. In the medium term, however, they are already thinking about providing the vehicles with autonomous capabilities, so that they will be able to go any way the passenger chooses. The passenger will pick the destination, and the AI will make sure that the air taxi brings him there safely.

Energy Harvesting

There are encouraging indicators that air taxi services will indeed become reality by 2035, but the obstacles are still out there. We still need to develop more reliable personal aircraft with improved autonomous functions. Also, electric flying vehicles will still require an abundance of energy for mass-scale use, and such energy will have to come from an abundant source: the Sun. That means we'll have to keep an eye for developments in solar energy harvesting as well. Luckily, solar energy is moving forward at an exponential rate.

So, if everything comes together just right, I still stand by my original forecast: flying taxis by 2035 it is!

Source: Soon, Flying Taxis Are Going to Be Soaring Through a Sky Near You

Flying Taxis Could Soon Be Coming To A Sky Near You

Flying taxis and other futuristic passenger vehicles are about to take a giant leap out of science fiction and into reality.

It's not exactly the vision of the "Back To The Future" film trilogy, which predicted that by 2015 we'd fill the skies with flying cars and get around on personal anti-gravity hoverboards.

But it turns out the movies may have just been a few years off. Singapore plans to have airborne cabs taking flight by 2030, according to the island city-state's Business Times daily newspaper.

Singapore's Ministry of Transport Permanent Secretary Pang Kin Keong said he's in talks with tech companies to begin trials to create drones to carry passengers.

Three companies on tap to manufacture the drones include a Russian-made Hoversurf Scorpion, the German Volocopter VC and China's autonomous aerial device Ehang 184, pictured at the top of this story and in the video below.

The electric-powered Ehang 184, with its four arms with eight mounted propellers and weighing 440 pounds, can transport a person for about 23 minutes ― covering a distance of 10 miles at a maximum height of just over 11,000 feet. The passenger would merely punch in a location on a control pad and Ehang 184 does the rest.

Single-person taxi drones aren't the only ultra modern transportation mode on Singapore's drawing board. They're also looking to create driverless buses that carry multiple passengers.

Pang revealed both of these concepts at the Business Times Leaders' Forum this week.

"There is going to be a significant shift in the public mindset from one of ownership of transport assets ― which is the mindset today ― to one of procurement of transport services as and when you need them," Pang told the 400 forum attendees.

But you won't have to wait until 2030 for Singapore's launch of the Ehang 184. Dubai is preparing to roll out that high tech drone this summer, according to Fortune.com.

Dabitk/Technology News / YouTube

After many test flights of the Ehang 184 driverless drone taxi, it is scheduled to be introduced in Dubai this July.

"Ehang 184 has enough room for a small suitcase and will be controlled through 4G mobile Internet," Fortune reports. "It is able to carry a single passenger who weighs less than 220 pounds over short distances at 62 miles per hour with a fully-charged battery." 

And with news that Uber has hired a NASA engineer to develop airborne cars, it's surely only a matter of time before you, too, can hitch a ride in a flying cab.

Source: Flying Taxis Could Soon Be Coming To A Sky Near You

Allentown girl and boy fly as car hits them on 15th Street; both hospitalized

Two children were hurt Thursday afternoon when they were hit by a car and thrown about 30 feet on 15th Street in Allentown, according to police and security video.

An 11-year-old girl was leading a 3-year-old boy west across 15th Street, about 150 feet north of Linden Street, at 5:25 p.m. when a southbound car hit them, tossing them down 15th.

Northbound rush-hour traffic, which had backed up on 15th Street, appeared to have blocked the view of both the children and the woman driving the car that hit them.

The woman stopped immediately at the scene and went to help the children, witnesses said.

A security video taken from the 15th Street home of Pete Ortiz shows the two children stepping behind a stopped northbound car, and after a pause, stepping into the path of the moving southbound car.

"It isn't pretty," Ortiz said as he reviewed the video at his house.

The video shows both children taking a strong impact and flying. Both of them land on the pavement and roll before they stop.

"It's lucky they didn't go under that car," Ortiz said.

On the video, both children get up immediately after they roll, and the girl runs to the boy.

Allentown medics radioed that the girl reported abdominal pain after the crash, and the little boy had no obviously serious wounds. But after seeing the video, the medics decided both needed a thorough checkup.

Both were taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest.

On Thursday night, police Assistant Chief Gail Struss said the two children will be fine.

"They only have minor injuries," she said. "I guess it looked a lot worse [in the video] than it was."

The driver probably will not be charged in the accident, Struss added.

"It appears it was not the driver's fault," she said.

Ortiz and his wife said they don't want to release the crash video for public view out of respect for the children's family and because they wanted police to examine the video.

— Frank Warner

Source: Allentown girl and boy fly as car hits them on 15th Street; both hospitalized

Ponsonby petrol station awakened at 4am by flying Jaguar

Home / Lifestyle / Ponsonby petrol station awakened at 4am by flying Jaguar

Petrol stations at four in the morning are dangerous enough as it is. What with drive-off fuel thieves, half asleep attendants, and pies that have gone semi-nuclear in the warming tray.

And now we've got to add stray, flying Jaguar XF sports sedans into the mix.

This once proudly premium Jaguar crashed through the front glass doors and windows of a Mobil petrol station this morning at 4.40am, sending safety glass and metal framing everywhere. There's also a chest freezer full of bait and berley. Let's all pray that it hasn't been unplugged otherwise it'll unleash a stench of absolute destruction.

Not a heck of a lot is known about the crash, which has been reported about by the NZ Herald here. Police have said that the runaway pussycat had two occupants, with alcohol being a possible factor of the crash. A "young woman" at the scene was also overheard apologising to police. 

Regardless, with no reports of any injuries, it's somewhat lucky that this happened in the dead of the night rather than during peak hours. The amount of people who would walk through that set of front doors on a daily basis would be well into the thousands. 

The car itself looks relatively fine. The biggest damage appears to be on the front left; some cosmetic mixed with some kind of suspension failure for good measure. With some luck, its owners have learned something from this mess.

Source: Ponsonby petrol station awakened at 4am by flying Jaguar

London terror attack eyewitness accounts - 'flying people like a football'

Eyewitnesses describe what they saw as an attack unfolded near the British parliament in central London.

GRAPHIC WARNING: The story below contains images that could upset some readers.

Harrowing eyewitness accounts of the London terror attack are emerging as people re-tell the horror of a man's act in smashing a SUV into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before crashing and then stabbing a police officer. 

Richard Tice was told a vehicle had driven along the bridge's footpath knocking people over, while Rick Longley saw a man "plunging" a knife into a police officer.

What London means to you? Share your stories, photos and videos.

"A guy came past my right shoulder with a big knife and just started plunging it into the policeman," Longley said.

Tice said he had looked across to the west pavement of Westminster Bridge and saw people on the ground being tended to.

READ MORE:* Live: London terror attack* Attacker's bloody rampage* In Photos: UK Parliament attack* The woman in the river* Politician hero in London attack * Vehicle a weapon of choice

A woman comes to the aid of a man injured in the London terror attack on Westminster Bridge.

"When I spoke to someone who had clearly been on the bridge at the time of the incident, they said a car had mounted the pavement ... and literally driven the whole way from south to north up the bridge knocking people over," Tice said.

"I heard a wheel definitely hit a kerb and quite a large crunch noise, I looked up and saw a car clearly hitting people as it came towards me," eyewitness Rob Lyon said.

An injured woman is assisted after the terror attack on Westminster Bridge in London.

"I just saw people being hit by a car at speed, it was harrowing."

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Ismail Hassan said he had seen a first victim hit by a vehicle, then a few second later another person and then a third.

"Then that's the time it clicked, you know, something bad is going on."

A man who witnessed a car drive into pedestrians on a bridge near the British parliament, tells reporters what he saw.

He told the BBC he saw, "flying people like a football".

MailOnline journalist Quentin Letts saw the incident out of the window of an office in the House of Commons.

"We heard this sound like a car crash. Then we saw a thick set man in black clothes come through the gates where people would normally drive cars," Letts said.

Victims of the terror attack in central London are helped by police.

"This man had something in his hand. It looked like a stick or a stave, it was quite long. He was challenged by two policemen in yellow jackets at the gates.

"One of the policemen fell down. He seemed to be stabbed four or five times. The other policeman got away and ran to get help," Letts said.

"It was very, very quick to come. As this attacker was running toward the entrance used by MPs to go into the House of Commons, he made it about 15 yards. Then two plain clothes guys came out of Westminster Hall with guns.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan says Londoners will never be cowed by terrorism.

"They shouted at him, uttered what sounded like a warning. Then they shot two to three times and he fell."

 A member of the British Lionhearts boxing team said he saw an attacker with two knives stab a police officer.

"Then shots rang out and the attacker fell to the floor," The Guardian reported.

Westminster Bridge was the scene of a terror attack in central London as a man drove an SUV into a crowd of pedestrians.

Boxing coach Tony Davis jumped over a fence and tried to revive the injured police officer.

Baylor Cook, 20, was on Westminster Bridge with his parents and sister when what he described as a "black SUV" drove onto the pavement and hit "four or five" people in front of him, The Telegraph reported.

"It had to have been going over 35 miles per hour - it was going really fast. It careered onto the pavement and hit a ton of people. It looked like it had just lost control but then they sped up and accelerated around the corner. 

"I think there was a barrier which it hit because we heard a loud bang."

Martin Evans was on a bus stuck in a traffic jam when he saw a man running with a "very large kitchen knife".

"He was running really fast and went straight past the guards at the gate," Evans said.

"I then saw him stab a police officer two or three times. His colleague then intervened and the officer managed to stagger away. I then heard two neat shots and the man went down."

 - Stuff

Source: London terror attack eyewitness accounts - 'flying people like a football'

Airbus, Italdesign show PopUp modular flying car concept

Airbus, Italdesign show PopUp modular flying car concept

Some technologies are not yet 'mature' enough for production, but the idea is said to be technically feasible.

AirBus and Italdesign recently unveiled a unique flying car concept, known as the Pop.Up.

Shown publicly for the first time in Geneva, the Pop.Up takes a modular approach rather than combining all driving and flying hardware into a single vehicle. It appears to take inspiration from intermodal freight transportation, containing passengers in a small two-seat capsule that connects either to wheels or a multi-rotor system.

An artificial intelligence platform helps determine the fastest travel method to reach a destination, choosing either the ground or air module depending on traffic, costs, ridesharing demands or other considerations. Piloting and driving is handled entirely autonomously, achieving Level 5 operation that never requires the human passengers to take over.

When congestion is high, the carbon-fiber capsule is automatically attached to a 5x44-meter air module powered by eight counter-rotating rotors. In other situations, the capsule is simply attached to a set of wheels for trips around a city. Both drive modules are powered by onboard batteries.

Battery energy density is not quite ready to make such vehicles a production reality in the near term. Automakers are also years away from achieving Level 5 autonomy on the road, while a multi-rotor VTOL aircraft will require a higher level of development than traditional autopilot systems to handle complex urban environments.

"While Pop.Up relies on future technologies that are not yet mature enough, such as electric propulsion and sense-and-avoid technology, the basic idea of the vehicle is feasible," Airbus project contributor Marius Bebesel told Electric Vehicle Research.

Airbus is working on actual demonstrator vehicles that are expected to be flying in the next few years.

Source: Airbus, Italdesign show PopUp modular flying car concept

2019 Bentley Flying Spur mule spied

A mule of the next-generation Bentley Flying Spur luxury sedan has been spotted undergoing extreme cold weather testing.

The new Flying Spur sedan, as well as the next-generation Continental coupe and convertible, will shift from their current front- and all-wheel drive platform, shared with the departed Volkswagen Phaeton, to the MSB component matrix for rear- and all-wheel drive cars.

Developed by Porsche, the MSB platform made its debut with the second-generation Panamera, hence this prototype's stretched and disfigured body.

Thanks to the car's bolt-on temporary wheel arch extensions we can see that the new Flying Spur will be slightly wider than the 1937mm Panamera.

The prototype also features an exceptionally long set of rear doors, and a lengthened roof line, suggesting that the Flying Spur will be even longer than the long wheelbase Panamera Executive, which has 5199mm overall length and a 3100mm wheelbase.

Developed primarily for the USA and China, the Panamera Executive isn't sold in Australia.

For reference, today's Flying Spur is 5299mm long, 1984mm wide, 1488mm tall, and rides on a 3066mm wheelbase.

The shift to the MSB platform will make the designers' task easier, and bring about handling benefits, but should also result in a lighter car. Thanks to the use of high-strength steel and aluminium, and, possibly, the ditching of the standard all-wheel drive system, the new Flying Spur should be lighter than today's 2475kg vehicle.

It's likely that the new Flying Spur and Continental ranges will use Porsche's latest 404kW/770Nm direct-injection 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8. Range-topping variants should feature an updated version of Bentley's 6.0-litre W12.

The new Flying Spur will probably make its debut in either late 2018 or early 2019. The related Continental coupe and GTC cabrio have already been spied wearing production bodies, and are expected to make their debuts towards the end of 2017.

MORE: Flying Spur news, reviews, comparisons and videosMORE: Everything Bentley

Source: 2019 Bentley Flying Spur mule spied

Ice, Snow Flying Off Cars Makes For Dangerous Situation

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — In the wake of the snowstorm this week, people are driving around with an unpredictable winter weapon.

As CBS2's Alice Gainer reported, thick snow and ice on the roofs of cars and trucks is not only dangerous, but also against the law. And it can cause serious problems when the snow flies.

"It was very sudden. It came out of nowhere. We weren't sure if a rock hit or what," said Greg Hecht. "It was just this loud thud."

Hecht and Cheryl Li, of Somerset County, New Jersey, were on the Pennsylvania Turnpike near King of Prussia Wednesday morning when a huge chunk hit their windshield.

"We look over to the right and there is a large chunk of ice sticking out my windshield — just half, in half out," Hecht said.

It is the law in Pennsylvania and in New Jersey – you must clear snow and ice from your car. In Connecticut, it has been dubbed the "Ice Missile Law."

One woman recently had her car struck by flying ice while driving in Hartford.

"Ice fell off a truck, struck her windshield, and the ice went through her windshield and she got hit by the glass shards," said Connecticut State Police Trooper Eric Verno.

In New Jersey, authorities said Thursday morning on the Outerbridge Crossing, ice flew off a truck going wet and hit a car going east. The driver of the car was taken to a local hospital for evaluation.

The eastbound lanes were closed for a short period of time.

Later this morning on the Garden State Parkway, ice flew off and hit the windshield of a car in Union.

CBS2's cameras also captured some snow and ice on top of an NJ TRANSIT bus headed into the Lincoln Tunnel Thursday morning.

CBS2 contacted NJ TRANSIT and a spokesman said the agency is investigating. The spokesman also said the agency's "policy is to run buses under a rooftop snow blower which has been very effective prior to being placed into service. On rare occasions the machine can leave some residue."

NJ TRANSIT is now inspecting the entire fleet to make sure all snow is gone. Drivers are advised to check their vehicles too.

Source: Ice, Snow Flying Off Cars Makes For Dangerous Situation

Flying ice isn't just dangerous on the highway: It's often illegal

2017-03-18T11:06:00.000Z

Jeff Rossen and Lindsey Bomnin

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The powerful nor'easter of last week may have passed, but it left a hidden danger behind: flying ice.

"The ice doesn't have to hit your vehicle; it's you avoiding that piece of ice," Lieut. Jason Delano of the Fulton Police Department in upstate New York told TODAY national investigative correspondent Jeff Rossen. "The roads are slippery right now. If I try to move quickly, I can lose control and cause another accident."

TODAY

Flying ice on the road can shatter windshields.

It doesn't take a major snowstorm for the danger to develop: Police say it takes just a few inches of snow to harden into ice on top of your vehicle and fly off. While filming their report, the Rossen Reports team spotted numerous ice-covered cars and trucks on the road in upstate New York. Fortunately, they came equipped with stepladders, shovels and scrapers, and sent a number of motorists safely on their way.

TODAY

States where you can be fined for leaving snow on the roof of your car include Alaska, Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.

Leaving snow on the roof of your car isn't just dangerous: It can actually get you fined in some states, including Alaska, Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. Drivers face fines up to $1500 in some places.

To suggest a topic for an upcoming investigation, visit the Rossen Reports Facebook page.

Source: Flying ice isn't just dangerous on the highway: It's often illegal

State PD: Tractor trailer damaged from flying ice; urges drivers to clear car before driving

× State PD: Tractor trailer damaged from flying ice; urges drivers to clear car before driving

ANDOVER —  Connecticut State Police are urging drivers to remove all ice and snow from their cars before driving.

Earlier today, State Police posted a photo of a tractor-trailer's window smashed from a piece of ice flew that came from another car.

With more snow on its way for the weekend, State Police advise people to clear their cars from ice or snow to possible fines. It is illegal to drive if there is any accumulated snow or ice on top of your car.

Source: State PD: Tractor trailer damaged from flying ice; urges drivers to clear car before driving

Maryland State Police: Multiple drivers injured from flying ice off other uncleaned vehicles

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - This week's winter weather has caused dangerous driving conditions – after the storm. One of the biggest problems seen is drivers who have failed to clear off their cars and sending sheets of ice flying onto other vehicles on the roads.

Maryland State Police said troopers at their College Park barracks have received at least 20 reports of vehicles being damaged over the last few days because of this problem. Three people have sustained eye injuries from shards of glass from their windshields after being hit from flying ice debris.

Larry Slagle, a commercial driver and volunteer firefighter from Chestertown, Maryland, said his windshield was shattered from flying ice from another vehicle on Wednesday as he was leaving Baltimore driving home on southbound Interstate 95.

"My only option was to try to steer as far to the left side of the lane towards the truck as I could," he recalled. "Unfortunately, it nailed me on the right side of the windshield and went off like a cannon, and I felt flying glass shards hit me in the face. Thankfully I did not get any glass in my eye."

"People failed to clean up their cars properly, and as a result, as they are going 60 miles an hour, the wind would catch underneath the ice on the hood and the roof – that ice would become a flying projectile and then the end result was it would strike other vehicles causing damage," said Maryland State Police 1st Sgt. John Pietanza.

Police said in the state of Maryland, drivers have a responsibility to clean off their cars properly because it is part of driving safely on the roads. If they don't, drivers can be ticketed and charged with negligent driving.

Source: Maryland State Police: Multiple drivers injured from flying ice off other uncleaned vehicles

Ice from truck crashes into driver's windshield on I-95

WILMINGTON (WPVI) --

Andru Duranso of Dover, Delaware says he was shocked when he saw a large piece of ice flying towards his car.

Duranso was driving behind a tractor trailer on I-95 in Wilmington, just south of the I-295 split, Wednesday afternoon.

Duranso tells Action News the ice fell from the top of the truck and went right into his windshield, shattering the glass and breaking off the passenger side mirror.

"I had glass all over my lap during this whole thing that went down. It could be worse, but it turned out a lot better than I thought," Duranso said.

Police told Duranso he was not the only victim of flying ice on Wednesday.

"They're glad everything happened the way it did and that I'm OK," Duranso said.

While Delaware does not have a specific snow or ice removal law on the books, since 2014, there have been several bills introduced that would allow officers to fine drivers who have not properly cleared their vehicles. But so far, no legislation has been passed in the state.

Delaware State Police have warned drivers in the past about removing ice from their vehicles.

Back in January 2014, the police posted this message on Facebook:

Troopers remind motorists to remove snow and ice left on a vehicles hood, windows and roof, which can become a deadly projectile, creating a hazard not only for the operator of the vehicle but for all motorists on the road. Taking few moments to clear ice and snow from your vehicle could prevent a disastrous and possibly fatal crash from occurring.

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(Copyright ©2017 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.)

Source: Ice from truck crashes into driver's windshield on I-95

There’s A Self-Driving, Flying Vehicle Concept From Airbus

So Airbus has just released a concept called the Pop.Up. It's part self-driving car and part flying car. It looks like something out of a science fiction movie but with the way technology and autonomous cars are advancing, it may just be a reality sooner than we think.

It was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show and is what Airbus describes as "the first modular, fully electric, zero emission concept vehicle system designed to relieve traffic congestion in crowded megacities," according to Road & Track.

The concept has a few parts consisting of a capsule car, that then is coupled with two different and independent electric propelled modules (the ground module and the air module. Airbus hopes to get the Pop.Up on the road and in the sky in 7 to 10 years.

Source: There's A Self-Driving, Flying Vehicle Concept From Airbus

Ford chairman on flying cars: 'Most people can't drive in two dimensions, much less three'

Reuters/Arnd Wiegmann

While the tech and automotive worlds have been racing to build self-driving cars, there's another potential revolution going on in the personal transportation industry: flying cars.

Google co-founder Larry Page for instance, has backed two related companies working on the idea, Kitty Hawk (which is thought to be working on autonomous vehicles) and Zee.Aero, which is working on something that's a cross between a car and a helicopter. And there's other startups, like MIT-birthed Terrafugia, as well as efforts by Airbus and others.

On Monday, at the SxSW conference taking place in Austin, Ford executive chairman Bill Ford was asked if Ford had any plans for flying cars. 

Short answer: No.

Bill FordWikipedia

Longer answer: We'll see. Because the great-grandson of Henry Ford doesn't think the idea is "crazy." But he does think its better to build self-flying cars, rather than mini quasi airplanes operated by a human.

He asked "is Ford working on flying vehicles," he told the audience:

"We're not, but it's not so crazy. Although I would say they had better be autonomous. Most people can't drive two dimensions. let alone three.

"There are entrepreneurs who are working on flying vehicles. I haven't been in one, but seen a test of one. And they are technically going to be very possible.

"But go back to automation. Think about today, planes, which you to take off and land at the airport, which eliminates 99% of their usefulness. You have to be a licensed pilot. Well, how many of those are there?

"But in time, regulations change and these things start to become more interesting. So I wouldn't say never for us, but not in the short term for us."

SEE ALSO: Twitter's former head engineer is now helping Larry Page build self-flying cars SEE ALSO: A look at Larry Page's mystery flying car startup NOW WATCH: A neuroscientist explains what happens to your brain when you get a 'runner's high' Loading video...
Source: Ford chairman on flying cars: 'Most people can't drive in two dimensions, much less three'

WRC Driver Gets Lost In Parking Lot, Wins Rally Anyway

World Rally Championship driver Kris Meeke said he "got caught out by a bump" less than a kilometer away from the end of the final stage of Rally Mexico. I'd say that's an understatement. Meeke went flying off into a parking lot next to the stage road and unbelievably still won the rally.

Meeke's Citroën C3 went straight through a shrubby tree line and clipped a car parked behind the trees on stage 19, the last stage of the rally. He then got a little lost in the parking lot itself, having to squeeze his way between spectators' parked cars.

Ultimately, he spotted a gap in the trees to get back on the main road. One of Meeke's tires was punctured when he drove through the trees, which made for a miserable end to his rally, but he drove it to the finish line regardless.

Fortunately for Meeke, he had built up a sizable 37.8 second lead heading into the final stage of the rally, allowing him to walk away with the win anyway. After his brief detour, Meeke finished the final stage 13.8 seconds ahead of once-unstoppable man and four-time WRC champion Sébastien Ogier. Unbelievable.

His flabbergasted post-race interview proved that he was just as shocked as we were that he pulled it off:

When asked what went through his mind, Meeke kept it brief and to the point: "Trying to find my way out of the parked cars and trying to find a gap in the hedge. A lot of things went my way, so thank you."

I'm honestly surprised he had any words after that at all. I'd have still been in shock.

Correction: While it was hard to tell from the WRC+ video, Meeke did, in fact, clip the silver car in the parking lot.

Fortunately, you know the works Citroën team has to have good insurance.

I initially said that he barely missed the car, so this has been edited above. [H/T Keaton the Dino-Roar!]

Source: WRC Driver Gets Lost In Parking Lot, Wins Rally Anyway

Yes, Finally a Real Flying Car!

By Paul Bertorelli | March 11, 2017

Concept vehicles are a staple of auto and motorcycle shows. These sometimes dingbat creations aren't meant to be serious design efforts, but flights of fancy intended to create buzz and garner press attention. Aviation shows rarely have the equivalent, at least from major manufacturers.

The last one I can think of is the Cessna NGP. Remember that one? It was to compete in the Cirrus space with the SR22 as an updated version of the 206/210 idea. It differed from automotive concepts in that it seemed to be a serious project and actually did a much-written-about flyby at AirVenture in 2006, only to disappear into the warrens of Cessna's Wichita works.

This week, Airbus launched a concept of its own, which we reported on in this story. The Pop.Up is yet another take on the flying car, this time envisioned as a hybrid modular system in which a quadcopter latches onto to a pod-like car with roller skate wheels and transports it hither and yon automagically. Just whistle it up on the inevitable app. Listening to the promo video leaves the impression that the idea emerged from one of those meetings where a bright young MBA announced that Airbus isn't an airplane company, but a transportation company. The full-circle outcome of such things is sometimes a grizzled old corner office dweller saying, "how about we stick with what we know? Airplanes."

Will this one be any different just because Airbus is involved? Do the designers think it's serious or are they just feeding the buzz machine? You can rarely tell by looking from the outside in. But what's undeniable is that the flying car concept car will not, despite the limits of physics, aerodynamics and a fickle market, go gently into that good night. The shimmering promise of breakthrough technology just over the horizon has always sustained the idea and continues to.

Personally, I have always been doubtful—I'm being generous with that term—of the flying car idea because as an opinion writer, I have a binary choice. I can write about it as though I think it's serious or I can dismiss it as yet another sketch pad flyby. I've tended toward the latter because I'd rather be proven wrong as a doubter than rudely brought to back to earth as a starry eyed acolyte. It's just coded into my DNA.

But, personally, this Airbus idea has reached the stage of gaslighting. This is a term much in fashion that involves a level of clever psychological manipulation that causes one to doubt one's own sanity. Maybe Airbus is the sane one here; the rest of us are either nuts or lacking in enough vision to see past our noses.

That said, the technical challenges of Pop.Up actually are not deal breakers, in my view. The batteries aren't quite there yet, but will eventually be, either as next-gen storage devices or some form of hybrid drive. The autonomy and swarming control is also doable and you saw an example of that during the Super Bowl half-time show in January. We may be some years away from perfecting this for human transport, but it seems technically feasible, including approvals from regulators. Eventually. Airbus and its design partner, Italdesign, say as soon as seven to 10 years. That sounds optimistic to me.

Stipulating that technical issues can be resolved, I think this idea's bigger challenge is economics. Such projects require huge investments to develop and if they're to be profitable, or at least not lose too much money, they require a certain market density that's more than just early-adopter uptake. My guess is you need volume in the thousands, not the multiple dozens to make a viable business case. I see it as a complex set of metrics related to whether an idea like Pop.Up has just the right mix of range, cost, comfort, speed and intrigue to customers tired of stewing in traffic to reach critical mass.

And remember, even though it may be a "mobility concept," the damn thing still flies. My observation over 40 years of doing observations is that when people get within 50 feet of flying machines, their brains turn to mush and they lose the normal ability to reason, especially with regard to how much things cost. That means even the smartest MBA—and maybe especially the smartest MBA—under estimates cost by more than half and over estimates market interest by four times. If you graph this out, the line probably parallels the inverse proportion of drag vs. speed. It's not a physical law, but it should be. It's also possible that this is just a throwaway trial balloon meant to give people like me something to write about.

Nonetheless, ideas have to come from somewhere and to get a few good ones, you have to advance a lot of bad ones. Will Pop.Up be the former or the latter? Beats me. I feel my sanity draining away as the sheer number of these flying-car-cum-mobility concepts, driven by emerging electric drive ideas, wear down my normally robust skepticism to the size of that odd period between Pop and Up.   

Source: Yes, Finally a Real Flying Car!

World's first flying car-drone unveiled by Airbus

An incredible new vehicle, which can drive on the road and fly, could be the solution to the congested cities.

In this configuration, Pop.Up becomes a urban self-piloted air vehicle, taking advantage of the third dimension to get from A to B efficiently whilst avoiding traffic congestion on the ground.

Designers at Airbus and Italdesign have used two separate electric propelled motors, which is what allows it to travel on the roads and fly.

It is being showcased at 2017 Geneva Motor Show in concept format bringing to the fore the versatility of a small two seater road auto that can take off vertically and land.

This two-seater auto will be capable of vertical take-off and landing when attached to the flight propellers - making it ideal for travelling around busy cities.

According to a statement released by both companies, the capsule is planned to measure out at 2.6 meters-long, 1.4-m-high and 1.5-m-wide.

This flying auto will essentially be a taxi service - the idea being to minimise the time sitting in queues of traffic and watching the metre climb, which can be frustrating.

Once the passenger has reached their destination, the capsule, if disconnected from the ground module will automatically return to its dedicated recharge station.

It even comes with a mobile app, which helps identify the best transport solution-ground or air-based on timing, traffic, congestion, costs, and ridesharing demands.

The user can stay for the entire journey in the same capsule without worrying about switching between different travel modes and enjoy the entire commute time, with real time interaction between the capsule and the surrounding urban environment and communities.

"Today, automobiles are part of a much wider eco-system: If you want to design the urban vehicle of the future, the traditional auto can not alone be the solution for megacities", Italdesign CEO Jörg Astalosch said.

Italdesign and Airbus are moving into the third dimension with their Pop-Up concept vehicle.

Source: World's first flying car-drone unveiled by Airbus

Get out of your next traffic jam with this flying car

Airbus unveiled its new self-flying car concept at the Geneva Auto Show.

The Pop.Up Concept lets drivers on the road get picked up by a quadricopter and fly around town.

The passenger cabin sits on a four-wheeled frame and can be driver-operated or self-driving.

When the driver is ready to fly, an air module can be requested by using a smartphone app.

A massive drone will then attach to the top of a "passenger capsule" and bring you to your destination.

Don't expect to see these flying cars in the sky anytime soon – Pop.Up is still in the concept stage and is years away from reality.

Source: https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/07/airbus-reveals-a-modular-self-piloting-flying-car-concept/

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Source: Get out of your next traffic jam with this flying car

Airbus unveils an autonomous, modular flying car concept

This wouldn't sit in your driveway. Airbus foresees Pop.Up vehicles forming an on-demand transportation network that isn't hampered by the limitations of ground-based options. It could dramatically reduce traffic congestion, too. Why drive on a packed bridge when you can simply fly over the river?

The gotcha, as you might guess, is that this is just a concept. There are life-size examples of Pop.Up at the Geneva Motor Show, but there's a big difference between that and showing off a working prototype, let alone something ready to handle your commute. If Airbus is committed to making this a real product, any practical use is going to be years away.

Source: Airbus unveils an autonomous, modular flying car concept

Twitter's former head engineer is now helping Larry Page build self-flying cars

Alex Roetter Twitter

Long-time Twitter engineering exec Alex Roetter, who left the company a year ago as part of Twitter's never ending talent exodus, has surfaced at a startup building flying cars, Business Insider has confirmed.

He's working at Kitty Hawk, the secretive startup backed by Google co-founder Larry Page.

Very little is known about Kitty Hawk, except that it's somehow associated with Page's more established flying car startup, Zee.Aero. Both Kitty Hawk and Zee.Aero were funded in 2010 and Zee.Aero calls itself "a division of Kitty Hawk" and employs around 100 people, according to its LinkedIn profile. 

However, Kitty Hawk is believed to be building a different version of a flying car than Zee.Aero. It is working on some kind of autonomous flying passenger vehicle and it employs about 30 people directly, according to LinkedIn.

Kitty Hawk also claims Sebastian Thrun as its president, th­e father of Google's self-driving tech and founder of its Google X research division.

Roetter is VP of Software at Kitty Hawk, though his exact role and responsibilities at the secretive startup remain unclear.

The Larry Page connection

Roetter is an interesting hire. He launched his career at Google in 2002, the pre-IPO days, hence the Larry Page connection. But he's best known as the guy who created Twitter's ad tools Advertiser, Publisher and Exchange (APEX), growing Twitter from near zero revenue to almost $2.5 billion a year. He was also involved in other products like Fabric (the developer tool sold to Google earlier this year). 

Several companies are developing flying cars, including this prototype by AeroMobil in Europe REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

Roetter took over as the head of all of Twitter's engineering in May, 2014, replacing Chris Fry (who made news back in the day for his $10 million pay package. Fry just landed at Medium, the media startup by Twitter co-founder Ev Williams.)

At Twitter, Roetter was known as a hands-off kind of leader. But in 2015, he was in the middle of a controversy when Twitter was accused of a diversity problem. In a now-deleted post on Medium, he took responsibility and vowed to do better.

Today Twitter is known as a good place to be a woman engineer, developers have told Business Insider, although its percentage of women in technical roles remains about on par with the overall industry's sad stat: 15%. 

Twitter is still known as having a glass ceiling when it comes to women in engineering leadership roles, one developer told us. On the other hand, we also heard that Roetter tried to change that. Out of the four senior technical leaders that reported to him, two were women, we understand.

If all of this sounds like a strange fit for an autonomous flying car startup, Roetter is also a pilot who spent a couple of years working on aircraft detection systems for wind farms before joining Twitter. So this must be a dream job for him.

SEE ALSO: This founder left his $4 billion company before the IPO because he had an even better idea NOW WATCH: 7 little-known benefits of Amazon Prime Loading video...
Source: Twitter's former head engineer is now helping Larry Page build self-flying cars

Dubai residents will be able to ride in flying drone taxis by July

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Residents of gridlocked Dubai won't need to worry about getting stuck in traffic for much longer, said Jon Gambrell at the Associated Press. The Emirati city says that by July, self-piloted taxi drones should be flying above its car-clogged streets. Using an app, people will be able to hail a Chinese-made EHang 184 drone, an egg-shaped craft with four propeller-bearing wings. It can carry one passenger and a small suitcase, together weighing up to 220 pounds.

(Courtesy image)

"After buckling into its race car–style seat, the passenger selects a destination on a touch-screen pad in front of the seat and the drone flies there automatically." The EHang 184, which can stay in the air for up to 30 minutes and has a range of up to 31 miles, "will be monitored remotely by a control room on the ground."

Source: Dubai residents will be able to ride in flying drone taxis by July

Valet thought Mahindra e2o-s engine was off - Here-s what happened next

RushLane.com Sunday 5th March, 2017

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The future looks bright for cars. There's increased discussion around electric cars, connected cars, and flying cars. Flying cars as an idea have always been fascinating. The sheer freedom of travelling as you please gives us a sense of accomplishment.

And while you may not always know how to make your car fly, there are opportune moments when it magically becomes airborne. of course the landing may not always be as desirable. You could also feel terrible if you've never managed to make your car fly but someone who's been charged with it momentarily achieves the feat.

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This flying car feat is wholly credited to the valet who probably didn't even realise the power was still on. In a jiffy, he lost control in a turn, broke a metal barrier, and plunged forward. From elevated ground to lower ground was not the most adventurous trip but surely one that'll be remembered. The car was later put out of its suspended misery but surely will bear longterm effects from being so broken.

Also See - Valet crashes Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder in India

Since the e2o nosedived, the front underbody and front wheel axles bore most of the brunt. With everything working against it, it's the backwheels that did the balancing act, keeping the car steady on slope. We ain't need no hill assist. What should have been a normal day at work turned out to be one of abject disbelief.

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Last year Mahindra updated the e2o, by offering a four door variant of the e2o, calling it e2o Plus. New Mahindra e2o Plus sports the same design on the inside and outside. Engine specifications also remain identical.

Interiors are seen with electric ORVMs, driver information system and infotainment system consisting of JBL music system with speakers and tweeters along with CD, DVD and MP3, Bluetooth and iPod connectivity. An app on the smartphone also allows for locking and unlocking of the car remotely and switching on the air conditioning system.

Also Read - Mahindra e2o Review - The Whizz Kid

The 4-door Mahindra Reva e2o is powered by an electric motor consisting of a 48B lithium-ion battery, capable of 25.5 bhp peak power at 3,750 rpm and 53.9 Nm peak torque at 3,000 rpm. The battery can be charged in a matter of 5 hours. Top speed stands at 81 kmph while the battery pack has a range of 120 kms under test conditions.

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First published on RushLane.com

Source: Valet thought Mahindra e2o-s engine was off - Here-s what happened next

1939 Standard Flying 14 in need of restoration For Sale

1939 Standard Flying 14I have owned this vehicle for over 40 years with the intention of fully restoring it but due to time constraints and other commitments I have never had the chance to carry this out.I am only the second registered owner,the car was originally owned by Taylor & White's in Bradford and upon his retirement Mr Taylor kept the car and registered it in his own name.The car has not been on the road since 1966 when Mr Taylor passed away.I have owned the car since 1971 after it sat in his widow's garage for those intervening years.The engine starts and runs with no smoke and is nice and quiet.There is good oil pressure and the dynamo charges the battery.The gearbox and clutch operate perfectly.The foot brake does work but would obviously needs attention,but it is adequate to drive around my yard area.The chassis,outriggers,spring hangers are all in excellent condition with just surface rust,the running boards are secure and solid on the car.The wood flooring is in re asonable condition but will need some attention.The wiring appears to be all complete and things like trafficators,horn etc work but would no doubt benefit from a partial or full rewire.Interior is in good order with no rips or tears on the seats,the door cards are also very good,the front carpets will need replacing,the rear carpets are in decent condition.The dashboard and clocks is all there and in reasonable/decent condition.The tyres are inflated with new inner tubes.Although the car starts up OK I have had to bypass the fuel tank as I believe the fuel tank is contaminated and will need flushing out,I have set up a temporary supply of fuel.The body itself is very solid with only slight corrosion on the door bottoms,the other small areas of repairs shown on pictures are just from small dents and not corrosion.All the chrome work is there with the car along with a spare grille.

I have the original buff log book along with the first computerised type log book and the latest styl e V5 log book.

I have all the relevant paperwork in place to keep the original registration number,however I am willing to consider selling the original number with the car as a separate agreeable transaction.If a price is not agreed upon then I will retain the number and the car will ultimately receive an age related,non transferable new registration.Anyone wishing to discuss then please ring for more details. I will NOT sell the registration number separately so please do not ask.The registration number is DAK 56 and approx 5 years ago was valued at around £3000,I will however get a more up to date valuation if anyone is interested in buying the number with the car.

I have more pictures available so if anyone is interested please get in touch and I will arrange to send them to you via e-mail.All viewings more than welcome.I have no doubt left out lots of other info so please please ask any questions via e-bay or ring me on 07785274126 for more information.

Source: 1939 Standard Flying 14 in need of restoration For Sale

AI Scientists Gather to Plot Doomsday Scenarios (and Solutions)

Artificial intelligence boosters predict a brave new world of flying cars and cancer cures. Detractors worry about a future where humans are enslaved to an evil race of robot overlords. Veteran AI scientist Eric Horvitz and Doomsday Clock guru Lawrence Krauss, seeking a middle ground, gathered a group of experts in the Arizona desert to discuss the worst that could possibly happen -- and how to stop it.

Their workshop took place last weekend at Arizona State University with funding from Tesla Inc. co-founder Elon Musk and Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn. Officially dubbed "Envisioning and Addressing Adverse AI Outcomes," it was a kind of AI doomsday games that organized some 40 scientists, cyber-security experts and policy wonks into groups of attackers -- the red team -- and defenders -- blue team -- playing out AI-gone-very-wrong scenarios, ranging from stock-market manipulation to global warfare.

Horvitz is optimistic -- a good thing because machine intelligence is his life's work -- but some other, more dystopian-minded backers of the project seemed to find his outlook too positive when plans for this event started about two years ago, said Krauss, a theoretical physicist who directs ASU's Origins Project, the program running the workshop. Yet Horvitz said that for these technologies to move forward successfully and to earn broad public confidence, all concerns must be fully aired and addressed. 

"There is huge potential for AI to transform so many aspects of our society in so many ways. At the same time, there are rough edges and potential downsides, like any technology," said Horvitz, managing director of Microsoft's Research Lab in Redmond, Washington. ``To maximally gain from the upside we also have to think through possible outcomes in more detail than we have before and think about how we'd deal with them."

Participants were given "homework" to submit entries for worst-case scenarios. They had to be realistic -- based on current technologies or those that appear possible -- and five to 25 years in the future. The entrants with the "winning" nightmares were chosen to lead the panels, which featured about four experts on each of the two teams to discuss the attack and how to prevent it.

Blue team, including Launchbury, Fisher and Krauss, in the War and Peace scenario

Tessa Eztioni, Origins Project at ASU

Turns out many of these researchers can match science-fiction writers Arthur C. Clarke and Philip K. Dick for dystopian visions. In many cases, little imagination was required -- scenarios like technology being used to sway elections or new cyber attacks using AI are being seen in the real world, or are at least technically possible. Horvitz cited research that shows how to alter the way a self-driving car sees traffic signs so that the vehicle misreads a "stop" sign as "yield.''

The possibility of intelligent, automated cyber attacks is the one that most worries John Launchbury, who directs one of the offices at the U.S.'s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and Kathleen Fisher, chairwoman of the computer science department at Tufts University, who led that session. What happens if someone constructs a cyber weapon designed to hide itself and evade all attempts to dismantle it? Now imagine it spreads beyond its intended target to the broader internet. Think Stuxnet, the computer virus created to attack the Iranian nuclear program that got out in the wild, but stealthier and more autonomous.

"We're talking about malware on steroids that is AI-enabled," said Fisher, who is an expert in programming languages. Fisher presented her scenario under a slide bearing the words "What could possibly go wrong?" which could have also served as a tagline for the whole event.

How did the defending blue team fare on that one? Not well, said Launchbury. They argued that advanced AI needed for an attack would require a lot of computing power and communication, so it would be easier to detect. But the red team felt that it would be easy to hide behind innocuous activities, Fisher said. For example, attackers could get innocent users to play an addictive video game to cover up their work.

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To prevent a stock-market manipulation scenario dreamed up by University of Michigan computer science professor Michael Wellman, blue team members suggested treating attackers like malware by trying to recognize them via a database on known types of hacks. Wellman, who has been in AI for more than 30 years and calls himself an old-timer on the subject, said that approach could be useful in finance.

Beyond actual solutions, organizers hope the doomsday workshop started conversations on what needs to happen, raised awareness and combined ideas from different disciplines. The Origins Project plans to make public materials from the closed-door sessions and may design further workshops around a specific scenario or two, Krauss said.

DARPA's Launchbury hopes the presence of policy figures among the participants will foster concrete steps, like agreements on rules of engagement for cyber war, automated weapons and robot troops. 

Krauss, chairman of the board of sponsors of the group behind the Doomsday Clock, a symbolic measure of how close we are to global catastrophe, said some of what he saw at the workshop "informed" his thinking on whether the clock ought to shift even closer to midnight. But don't go stocking up on canned food and moving into a bunker in the wilderness just yet.

"Some things we think of as cataclysmic may turn out to be just fine," he said.

Source: AI Scientists Gather to Plot Doomsday Scenarios (and Solutions)