Volocopter: The world’s first electric helicopter

Posted: 15 Oct 2015 11:13 AM PDT

E-Volo is developing an aircraft that could most appropriately be considered a fusion of a helicopter and a drone. Basically, they want to create a drone that is big and powerful enough to carry 2 people. The group is currently develping a working manned prototype of the equipment, which they call “Volocopter”.

The aircraft can seat two people and has a circular structure on top with 18 rotors assembled with independent propellers. The machine can take off vertically and fly in any direction in a very agile way. It can be controlled by a joystick from inside the aircraft or remotely by someone on the ground.

Read More at Interesting Engineering

The Science behind The Martian

Posted: 14 Oct 2015 05:48 AM PDT

[Source: HIRISE, Mars]

The Martian starring Matt Damon shows us what it might take for a single person to survive on Mars until possible rescue. Without giving away the plot, Matt Damon’s character, Astronaut Mark Watney needs to find a way to grow plants on Mars in order to stay alive and the terraforming he does is pretty accurate.

In the movie, Mark Watney needed to use hydrogen to get the water out of Martian soil in order to water the plants he needed to grow and eat for survival. His big issue was heating the hydrogen without blowing himself up.

Read More at Interesting Engineering

Blitab is a Braille tablet for blind and visually impaired people Posted: 13 Oct 2015 10:39 AM PDT Using devices such as smartphones and tablets is relatively simple to blind and visually impaired people since most operating systems provide a guide system via audio. However, not every bit of information can be passed through audio, hence Braille was invented, a tactile language that allows blind people to read. The Austrian company Blitab Technology claims to be working on a revolutionary tablet, which will be the world’s first developed exclusively for the visually impaired. The great breakthrough is the tablet’s display, capable of forming microbubbles, creating text and images in Braille. “What we are doing is creating a completely new technology which outputs braille in a completely new and innovative way without any mechanical elements,” Slavi Slavev, chief technology officer and co-founder of Blitab Technology, told IBTimes UK. Read More at Interesting Engineering

AKHIR & AWAL

The Religion of Islam

The Religion of Islam: This web site is for people of various faiths who seek to understand Islam and Muslims.  It contains a lot of brief, yet informative articles about different aspects of Islam.  New articles are added every week.  Also, it features Live Help through chat.

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Nota mengharukan

Nota mengharukan dari Kamunting

Aidila Razak 11:31AM Jun 18 2012

EKSKLUSIF “Nota penyeksaan” yang didakwa diseludup keluar dari kem tahanan ISA di Kamunting, menimbulkan persoalan berhubung kaedah soal siasat yang digunakan pihak berkuasa.

Nota berkenaan, didakwa diseludup keluar oleh kakitangan kem dan diserahkan kepada Malaysiakini, menyatakan dengan terperinci penyeksaan ala Guantanamo yang didakwa dialami oleh 45 orang tahanan yang masih dikurung di pusat tahanan di Taiping, Perak.

Tiada tarikh dinyatakan dalam nota berkenaan, namun insiden berkenaan didakwa berlaku ketika proses soal siasat ketika individu berkenaan ditahan di satu pusat tahanan reman, sebelum dipindahkan ke Kamunting.

Kandungan nota berkenaan tidak dapat disahkan secara bebas, namun dakwaan itu termasuk:

• Dipaksa menanggalkan pakaian sehingga hanya memakai pakaian dalam, dan "digantung terbalik"  daripada satu "mesin" yang bergerak mengelilingi satu "bilik penyeksaan khas yang disyaki terletak di Bukit Aman".
• "Tiba-tiba mesin pun berhenti. Lantas, bertubi-tubi seluruh tubuhnya dipukul dengan objek tumpul (mungkin cota)".
• "Apabila pukulan dihentikan, mesin itu pun kembali bergerak. Tidak berapa lama mesin itu dihentikan semula dan dia kembali dipukul teruk".
• Minyak panas dilumurkan ke kemaluan.
• Mencabut bulu di badan, termasuk bulu kemaluan.
• Melumur "cili boh" ke badan, terutama ke kemaluan, dan "dipaksa membiarkan cili itu mengering pada badannya" untuk tempoh dua hingga tiga hari.
• Mencucuh kemaluan dengan api rokok.
• Dipaksa berbogel dan melakukan ketuk ketampi selama beberapa jam untuk tempoh sehingga 60 hari.

Difahamkan, pasukan Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia (Suhakam) ketika melawat kem berkenaan untuk memeriksa tahanan berkenaan, yang menjalankan mogok lapar, turut menerima set nota yang sama.

Pesuruhjaya Muhammad Sha'ani Abdullah berkata Suhakam kini sedang "membincangkan" kandungannya.