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An exposed rock on the dimpled, icy plain recalls a giant slug. The outcropping or lone chunk of debris lies along a demarcation line between different portions of the plain. The line resembles the trail of slime left behind by a slug or snail on the move.

But the line isn’t slime; it marks a unique but subtle pattern on the plain. Zoom out and viewers will see Sputnik Planum divided by a series of lines. The icy plain looks like a collection of cells or tectonic plates.

Researchers say the differentiation is created by a deep-lying heat source. As large regions are gradually warmed, they bulge very slightly before cooling and sinking back. The slow warming and cooling routine creates a cell-like convection pattern.

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Originally published on EV Obsession.

Mercedes-Benz is now aiming to bring 4 electric vehicles to market over just the next few years, rather than simply one, according to recent reports.

The reason for the speeding up of plans is apparently that competitors such as BMW and Audi (not to mention the rising competitor Tesla) have been making strong moves as of late — meaning that Mercedes needs to speed things up on the electric vehicles front or possibly get left behind.

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“Greetings. We are from the future. Everything is going to be alright. The future is a beautiful place. But you will need some training in order to get there…”

More: http://WeAreFromTheFuture.com

Words, Voice & Editing by Garret John LoPorto.
Connect on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/GarretJohn
& on Twitter: http://twitter.com/garretloporto
Music: “Time” by Hans Zimmer
Hans Zimmer feat. Satellite Empire — Time (The Machinist Remix)

Science:

Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) commissions a machine from Nikola Tesla (David Bowie) during Tesla’s time in Colorado Springs. This video clip is taken from the motion picture ‘The Prestige’ (Touchstone Pictures **Copyright 2006 — All rights reserved*. I own NO rights for this clip, which is intended to be used purely for your entertainment purposes. Do not copy, or in any way otherwise distribute this copyrighted material. Thank you! — JT.

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Visit: http://www.spaceandintelligence.com
https://www.facebook.com/SpaceAndIntelligence

Meet the scientific prophets who claim we are on the verge of creating a new type of human — a human v2.0. At a certain moment in the future computer intelligence will equal the power of the human brain. Some believe this will revolutionise humanity — we would be able to download our minds to computers extending our lives indefinitely. Others fear this will lead to oblivion by giving rise to destructive ultra intelligent machines. One thing they all agree on is that the coming of this moment — and whatever it brings — is inevitable.

Originally published in 2006 by BBC Horizon.

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Yesterday, Tesla Motors released software update 7.1 for the Model S and Model X, an update that allows the electric cars to park themselves while you stand by and watch in awe. Today, CEO Elon Musk made a bold prediction: In 2018, this feature will work anywhere that cars can drive.

Called Summon, the functionality is part of Tesla’s Autopilot self-driving technology. Autopilot was introduced with version 7.0 of Tesla’s software in October 2015, and lets drivers take their hands off the wheel in certain conditions.

Summon, which is currently in beta (it’s not enabled by default, so you have to turn it on at Controls = Settings = Driver Asssistance = Autopilot), takes that functionality a step further, once you arrive home and exit your Model S or Model X.

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At present, scientists study gravitational fields passively. They observe and try to understand existing gravitational fields produced by large inertial masses, such as stars or Earth, without being able to change them as is done, for example, with magnetic fields.

This led Andre Fuzfa from Namur University in Belgium to attempt a revolutionary approach — creating gravitational fields at will from well-controlled magnetic fields and observing how these magnetic fields could bend space-time.

In his study, Fuzfa has proposed, with supporting mathematical proof, a device with which to create detectable gravitational fields.

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