Dashing the dream of ideal 'invisibility' cloaks for stress waves

Whether Harry Potter's invisibility cloak, which perfectly steers light waves around objects to make them invisible, will ever become reality remains to be seen, but perfecting a more crucial cloak is impossible, a new study says. It would have perfectly steered stress waves in the ground, like those emanating from a blast, around objects like buildings to make them "untouchable."

* This article was originally published here

W3C and WHATWG agreement: Single version of HTML, DOM specifications

Having two separate HTML specifications? What's up with that? Stephen Shankland's account of the two in CNET: "for nearly a decade, two separate groups have been issuing separate documents to define Hypertext Markup Language, or HTML, the standard that tells you how to make a web page."

* This article was originally published here

14 lions on the loose in South Africa, with nowhere to go

A pride of 14 lions is on the loose near a mining community bordering South Africa's Kruger National Park, officials said Friday, and warned members of the public to be alert.

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Shared control allows a robot to use two hands working together to complete tasks

A team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin and the Naval Research Laboratory has designed and built a robotic system that allows for bimanual robot manipulation through shared control. In their paper published in the journal Science Robotics, the group explains the ideas behind their work and how well they worked in practice.

* This article was originally published here

Uber chief tightens grip with top execs' departures

Uber chief Dara Khosrowshahi put out word Friday that he is tightening his grip on the wheel at the ride-share firm in the wake of a bumpy stock market debut.

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Autonomous boats can target and latch onto each other

The city of Amsterdam envisions a future where fleets of autonomous boats cruise its many canals to transport goods and people, collect trash, or self-assemble into floating stages and bridges. To further that vision, MIT researchers have given new capabilities to their fleet of robotic boats—which are being developed as part of an ongoing project—that lets them target and clasp onto each other, and keep trying if they fail.

* This article was originally published here

Somebody's watching you: The surveillance of self-driving cars

Picture the future, where driving is a thing of the past. You can hop in your car or one from a ride-share, buckle up and tell the car where you want to go. During your ride, you can check your email and look up a few things online through your dashboard. Meanwhile, your whereabouts and other details are being tracked remotely by companies. As self-driving cars develop further, autonomous vehicles will play a much larger role in the digital economy as car companies and others harness personalized customer information through geospatial and navigation technologies, combining it with existing financial consumer profiles, according to a study in Surveillance and Society.

* This article was originally published here

Older forests resist change—climate change, that is

Older forests in eastern North America are less vulnerable to climate change than younger forests—particularly for carbon storage, timber production, and biodiversity—new University of Vermont research finds.

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France ready to cut Renault stake to shore up Nissan ties: minister

France is ready to consider paring back its 15-percent stake in Renault in the interests of consolidating the automaker's alliance with Japanese partner Nissan, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Saturday.

* This article was originally published here