Italian scientists say that the controversial Shroud of Turin, which many believe to be a forgery dating back to medieval times, cannot be anything but genuine. The reason: the only way they could reproduce the image themselves was by using lasers, meaning that the technology necessary to forge Jesus' image on the medieval cloth didn't exist at the time.
The authenticity of the Shroud of Turin has been long disputed, especially since radiocarbon dating of the material in the shroud, which was conducted by labs in Oxford, Zurich and Arizona back in 1988, suggested the material of the shroud dated from between 1260 and 1390. That would be far "younger" than should be if the material had been used to wrap the body of Jesus Christ.
Those dating tests were disputed by those who said that they were contaminated with fibers used to repair the Shroud of Turin when it was damaged by fire in the Middle Ages.
What the Italian scientists have determined from their experiments, however, is that even if it were true that the cloth of the Shroud of Turin dated "only" to medieval times, no one then would have been able to create a forgery. That would also seem to mean, by extrapolation, that neither could the Shroud have been forged if it had been created around the time of Jesus.
The scientists said, "The results show a short and intense burst of UV directional radiation can colour a linen cloth so as to reproduce many of the peculiar characteristics of the body image on the Shroud of Turin." That could be a UV laser --- or a miracle --- the scientists said.
Professor Paolo Di Lazzaro, who led the study, said: "When one talks about a flash of light being able to colour a piece of linen in the same way as the shroud, discussion inevitably touches on things such as miracles. But as scientists, we were concerned only with verifiable scientific processes. We hope our results can open up a philosophical and theological debate."
Technology, or the lack thereof, aside, there's still plenty of room for debate about the Shroud of Turin. For one, the Jerusalem Shroud, the first known burial shroud, found in Jerusalem, dating from the time of the Crucifixion, has a simple two-way weave. On the other hand, the Shroud of Turin has a twill weave that was introduced more than 1,000 years after Christ's time.
The Vatican has never said if it believes the shroud to be authentic or not. Pope Benedict XVI has stated that image of a bearded man with nail wounds on his wrists and feet, which is imprinted on the cloth "reminds us always" of Christ's suffering. The shroud is owned by the Vatican, but is stored in a special protective chamber in a chapel in Turin Cathedral.
Amazon.com has opened its Kindle Lending Library, which it announced in late April. The new service makes the Amazon Kindle the first e-book reader to support "checking out" books from public libraries, and works with over 11,000 libraries nationwide.
In a press release, Jay Marine, Director, Amazon Kindle said:
"Starting today, millions of Kindle customers can borrow Kindle books from their local libraries. Libraries are a critical part of our communities and we're excited to be making Kindle books available at more than 11,000 local libraries around the country. We're even doing a little extra here - normally, making margin notes in library books is a big no-no. But we're fixing this by extending our Whispersync technology to library books, so your notes, highlights and bookmarks are always backed up and available the next time you check out the book or if you decide to buy the book."
The Kindle Lending Library leverages the already existing third-party service OverDrive. In addition to supporting the Kindle and Kindle apps, OverDrive has what could be called "generic" Android, iOS, Windows Mobile, and BlackBerry apps, as well as desktop clients that link to specific libraries.
Users can head to the Kindle Lending Library page on Amazon.com's website for more information. The actual "checkout process" will be done at the associated library, though. The library also has to support Overdrive's services, too.
Strangely, Amazon.com hasn't made it easy to discover if a library supports Overdrive. Instead, you have to go to Overdrive's site itself, where users can search for at search.overdrive.com. There, in addition to searching for a library, you can search for books, too ... as well as bookstores, if you'd like to buy an e-book.
Once you've determined your local library supports the Kindle Lending Library, you go to their website to search for and select a book to borrow [you still need your library card, by the way].
Once they choose a book, customers can choose to "Get for Kindle." They will then be redirected to Amazon.com's, where they login to their Amazon.com account so the book can be transferred to their Kindle.
The length of the loan will vary. Three days before the end of the loan period, the Kindle Lending Library will send users a courtesy e-mail to remind them about the expiration of the lending period.
Nicely, even after a loan expires, a user will be able to access your notes and highlights at kindle.amazon.com. And if the book is checked out again, or purchase it from Amazon.com all of the notes and highlights will appear in the book as before the loan expired.
Amazon.com has several ways to read Kindle e-books, including apps for Android, iDevices, PC, Mac, BlackBerry and Windows Phone, as well as the Web-based Kindle Cloud Reader.
It's widely expected that Amazon.com will release a 7-inch Android-based e-book reader / tablet before the end of the year. It's said, however, that the tablet will be based on a forked version of Android, pre-Froyo (Android 2.2). It's unclear how this version of Android could continue to support new apps as the main Android codeline moves forward to Ice Cream Sandwich and beyond.
One of the hardest things about shopping for clothes online is an inability to tell how something will look on you. Enter augmented reality, and Zugara's technology, along with U.K.-based online clothing store Banana Flame.
The idea of what's called Zugara's "Webcam Social Shopper" is to allow customers, using their webcam, to "hold up" clothes in front of themselves. While it still won't tell you how a set of clothes feels, or if they fit just right, the technology could tell you if the color is right for you, along with answering other questions that S.O.'s always have to answer ("Does this make me look fat?").
The reason the word "Social" is in the app's name is that users of the technology can use it to network with their friends and ask them, via Twitter and Facebook, how they think the clothes look on them.
You can't do it while sitting, though. Instead, you step back a few feet from a computer, ensuring that the camera has a view of your face. The "Webcam Social Shopper" will then position the clothes on top of whatever you are wearing.
Still confused? There's nothing better than a video to give you an idea of how something works. Watch a video on Zugara's app below. The apps includes a sort of Kinect-like motion system to move the clothing around on your body to get a better "feel" for how it looks on you.
Admittedly, the system seems to work well. Still, there's nothing like making sure that the online retailer has a generous return policy, right?
An autopen is a machine used to automatically sign a signature. You can probably imagine the usage, but just before the expiration of the Patriot Act at midnight, Thursday, U.S. President Barack Obama made history by using an autopen to sign the legislation extending the Patriot Act for four more years.
Originally, there had been a plan in place to have a White House aide hand-carry the legislation re-authorizing the Patriot Act to Europe, where Obama is for G8 talks. However, the vote process was delayed, which meant that the bill might not have reached Obama before the act expired at midnight.
[The delay was mainly due to a single senator, Republican freshman Rand Paul of Kentucky. Despite the fact that the original Patriot act was signed into law during a GOP administration, and strongly backed by the GOP, Paul wanted the Act modified, seeing it as an abuse of privacy rights.]
Autopens can cost anywhere from $2000 to $10000. Only two companies in the United States make the devices. Each signature template costs about $175 to create. The more expensive autopens are automated and require programming a person's handwriting into a computer. The above machine is a Damilac model 80.
In 2005, then Deputy Assistant Attorney General Howard C. Neilson, Jr., released an opinion that stated the use of an autopen to sign a bill was constitutional:
“We conclude that neither past practice nor previous opinions relating to the signing requirement of Article I, Section 7 foreclose reading that requirement in a manner that is consistent with the traditional common law understanding of ‘sign,’ with attorney general and Department of Justice opinions applying that understanding to statutory signing requirements, and with the settled interpretation of the related presentment and return provisions.”
That said, this is the first time an autopen has actually been used to sign a bill. It's history.
Yves "Jetman" Rossy promised to fly his six-foot-wide, 45-pound carbon-fiber jet / wingpack on its first U.S. flight (and first run-in with the FAA) on Tuesday, and he made good on it.
Rossy launched from a helicopter at 8,000 feet and flew about 200 feet above the rim of Grand Canyon West. The flight had originally been scheduled for last Friday, but his run-in with the FAA delayed it.
The FAA didn’t know how to certify Rossy’s first-of-its-kind jetwing, but after cutting through some bureaucratic red tape, the flight went off as rescheduled.
You can watch a video of it below. We doubt that Rossy himself did any screaming, as he's used to these stunts, but he was screaming along at 190MPH, it was reported, before eventually parachuting down to earth.
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New iPad 2 details are continuing to emerge, and one of the rumors seems quite strange based on prior Apple CEO Steve Jobs talking points: a 7-inch iPad is still on the table.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs previously said that 10 inches was the smallest viable size for a tablet, and that the then upcoming 7-inch Android tablets (the Samsung Galaxy Tab, for one) would be DOA. While not DOA, they certainly haven't sold at iPad levels.
Still, that was Steve Jobs, and he rarely admits a mistake. iLounge says, however, that their source, one that has previously been accurate, says the 7-inch model is still in the works. The company did decide to shelve the 7” version of the iPad it had been working on in 2010, but the source told them that a "key iPad, iPhone, and iPod component provider has been asked by Apple to develop a part for use in a seven-inch iPad." It ought to be interesting, if Apple delivers the device, how it will backpedal on prior statements.
Meanwhile, as previously noted, the iPad 2 will likely carry NFC, or near-field communication, which can be used as part of a paytment system. iLounge's source said that Apple is going to use those NFC chips for more, as well. The accessories could use the NFC chip to determine the presence of an iPad without using BlueTooth or other currently used technology.
Finally, the iPad 2, or later models, might even be made out of carbon fiber rather than aluminum. Such material would reduce the weight of the iPad, something that was one of the few complaints about the original: its weight made it hard to use when reading an e-book in, say, bed.
Charge Port, between the driver's door and the front wheel well, activates a light ring that loops around the harbor twice to let the owner know that the car is connected to. There are the usual gee-whiz charging and battery-draining column drama going on in the dash, too.
It is believed by many automakers such as involvement in motorsport will improve not only racing, but road cars. Cadillac is no stranger to the SCCA World Challenge, which took part in the GT class series in a Cadillac CTS-V sedan in 2004-2007 seasons. To achieve this, the Cadillac back to the Sports Car Club of America's World Challenge series in 2011 with a race-prepped CTS-V Coupe that General Motors show 2011 Detroit Auto Show.
The SCCA World Challenge series is based manufacturer, which means that all competing cars are racing versions of the cars could be purchased by the public. Back to racing in the SCCA World Challenge is a great way to demonstrate the performance and ability to CTS-V Coupe,"said Don Butler, vice president of Cadillac marketing. Pratt & Miller, an engineering firm in Michigan, which has also been responsible for Chevrolet's all-conquering C5.R and C6.R race cars, together with the new Corvette GT2 class American Le Mans Series racing cars and public roads C6RS will be co development of the CTS-V Coupe race car with GM's performance division. In 2011 SCCA World Challenge Series opens March 25 to 27 in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Road & Track was the first to report on a possible Nissan GT-R Spec M "several months ago when we heard the potential of its existence from the mouth of Kazutoshi Mizuno, chief engineer and vehicle specialist in the GT-R. He mentioned the possibility of the car when we tested the GT-R Spec V in Japan last year. Well, the day finally arrived, as we have confirmed reports that it is a new GT-R trim level, one that addresses the more mature driver. Unfortunately, as Spec V, not the new version does not look like it will come to the U.S.
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