drag2share: New Construction Material Is Lighter Than Water And Stronger Than Steel

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/new-material-is-lighter-than-water-stronger-than-steel-2014-3

Researchers in Germany have made a significant advance in creating lightweight, tough materials by taking a note from bone, wood and honeycombs.

A Karlsruhe Institute of Technology team fabricated polymer and alumina composites in a regular framework structure using 3-D laser lithography. Their hierarchical microarchitecture achieved extremely porous materials with strength-to-density ratios higher than bone, aluminum or steel.

"The novel lightweight construction materials resemble the framework structure of a half-timbered house with horizontal, vertical, and diagonal struts," said Jens Bauer, a microarchitecture expert who lead the research, in a statement.

Their samples contained 45 percent to more than 90 percent air, making them extremely lightweight while also withstanding more than 46,000 pounds per square inch of pressure. They published their work recently in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

SEE ALSO: A Colorado Man Is Connected To 700 Sensors That Record Every Detail Of His Life

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drag2share: Singapore's Airport Was Just Named The World's Best — Again

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/singapore-changi-airport-photos-2014-3

Singapore's Changi Airport was just named the world's best airport in 2014 by the World Airport Awards. 

This is the second year that Changi took the top spot in Skytrax's World Airport Awards, the most prestigious airport award in the industry.

Skytrax evaluates over 400 airports around the world for service, check-in, transfers, shopping, security, immigration, and more. 

It's no surprise that Changi took the number one spot. The international transit hub has incredible amenities, like a butterfly garden, rooftop pool, movie theaters, hotels, spas, and showers, and even a four-story slide.

Last year, I visited the airport during a trip to Singapore and had a chance to explore. The bottom line: This is a place where you'll actually enjoy having a long layover.

Disclosure: Our trip to Singapore, including travel and lodging expenses, was sponsored by the Singapore Tourism Board. 

The airport is an architectural marvel. The newest terminal, Terminal 3, was designed by CPG Consultants, in collaboration with Woodhead, Tierra Design and SOM, Bartenbach LichtLabor and Hugh Dutton & Associates.

Most passengers enter the airport at Terminal 3, the newest and largest terminal at Changi, which is where Singapore Airlines is based. At 380,000 sq. m., the terminal is spacious, with high ceilings and an open, airy feel.

There's also a lush vertical garden here called the "Green Wall." It has more than 20 varieties of plants, vines, and flowers growing on it.

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drag2share: The Futuristic Liquid Nitrogen Machine That Makes Ice Cream To Order

Source: http://gizmodo.com/the-futuristic-liquid-nitrogen-machine-that-makes-ice-c-1551782945

Despite the warm wood and cheery red accents, Smitten Ice Cream can feel a bit like a mad scientist's shop. There's the industrial-sized tank of liquid nitrogen that greets you inside the entrance of its new flagship location in Oakland. And there's the billowing clouds of nitrogen when the stainless steel ice cream machines churn out personalized scoops to order.

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drag2share: Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 range inbound, likely with thinner bezels and upgraded displays

source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/27/samsung-galaxy-tab-4-fcc/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

We've been hearing scraps of information about Samsung's next batch of Galaxy Tabs since February, but now we have something that helps us piece them all together: An FCC filing for what looks to be the 10-incher, with the model number "SM-T805." The official paperwork doesn't reveal much, but the same model has also appeared on internal Samsung documents that suggest it possesses a 2,560 x 1,600 display -- which would be a huge upgrade over the existing Tab 3 10.1. Smaller Tab 4 models have also leaked elsewhere, with a press render of the 7-inch version (shown above, courtesy of @evleaks) showing thinner bezels than the current Tab 3 7.0, presumably resulting in a cheaper version of the highly portable (and generally very good) Tab Pro 8.4. We could be due for an official launch event pretty soon, especially with the press renders showing a date of April 24th, so stay tuned for more numerical branding fatigue.

Update: The SM-T801, likely the 8.4-inch model, just hit the FCC as well.

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drag2share: Many Consumers Still Don't See The Value Of Tablets

Source: https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/welcome

A majority of U.S. consumers who don't yet own a tablet still say they won't buy one this year. And most of them say it's because they're happy with their PC or laptop.

• Roughly 53% of consumers who don't already own a tablet reported that they will not be buying a tablet in the next 12 months, according to a new Kantar Worldpanel ComTech survey. 
• Another 34% responded that they were unsure if they would be buying a tablet. Among consumers who were unsure whether they wanted to buy a tablet or not, 47% claimed tablet prices were too high. 
• Only 13% of those consumers who don't already own a tablet said they would buy one this year.
• Among respondents with no plans to buy a tablet, a whopping 72% claimed that they were happy with their current laptop or PC, while 42% also said they were simply not interested in a tablet.

That last statistic is the most telling, and it indicates that tablet vendors have failed to drive home the message of what the tablet's true value is.

Most tablet-averse consumers likely look at tablets as expensive entertainment devices that are supremely lacking in productivity capabilities compared to PCs.

But it's not just PCs that are taking away from the value of the tablet.

Advancements in smartphone screen size and quality are making the tablet less attractive as an entertainment device. Why would consumers pay a few hundreds dollars for an extra, only slightly bigger device when they likely already have a perfectly good smartphone in their pocket?

One of our mobile predictions for 2014 was that more tablet-friendly productivity software would become available, making the tablet a more respectable productivity tool. With Microsoft launching Office for iPad this week, and Google building a full-fledged enterprise suite of apps for Android, expect the tablet's value to consumers and businesses to rise soon.

Click here to download the charts and data in Excel

Here is a look at some of the biggest reasons why consumers will not be buying a tablet over the next 12 months.

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