Tag: TRANSPORTATION

The TSA says it will be re-testing hundreds of airport body scanners after its last round of tests found radiation levels 10 times higher than expected -- a number the agency chalked up to a calculation error. "We understand it as a calculation error," TSA spokesman Sarah Horowitz told Wired, before explaining how difficult it can be to remember to divide by the number of units tested. The ...

Occasionally function should take a backseat to form. Take this three-wheeler, resembling, ever-so-slightly, a medieval torture device. Built by German designer Nils Ferber, the vehicle hits (a likely dangerous) 18.5 mph. It's powered solely by a pair of 18-volt-screwdrivers. The driver, doubtless possessing balls of steel, sprawls across the length of the vehicle and steers by leaning to ...

Driving while talking and texting may seem dangerous enough, but just wait and see what happens as the roads fill up with people driving and browsing the Web. According to a survey by State Farm, it's already happening: More than 19-percent of respondents admitted to browsing on their phone while behind the wheel. That number is significantly lower than the 74-percent that said they'd made or ...

In about a month, the city of Marysville, California will test the country's first "smart" red light system, which is designed to predict and prevent traffic collisions at intersections. According to Sacramento's Fox 40 News, the city has incorporated predictive software into an existing red-light camera system, which is located at the intersection of 3rd and F streets. The system predicts when ...

The city of Boston is developing a new app called Street Bump, which would allow citizens to report potholes to city officials without even lifting a finger. The app, which is currently in development, uses a smartphone's GPS receiver and accelerometer to sense whenever a moving car hits a bump, and is reportedly accurate enough to pick up on cracks and divots in the road. Whenever Street Bump ...

Like the eight-track before it, the cassette tape is riding off into the sunset -- just not in a car. According to The New York Times, no 2011 model vehicles manufactured or sold in the U.S. will feature a cassette player as a standard feature or as part of an extra package. The Lexus SC 430 will go down in history as the last car packaged with a factory tape deck. The deck won't be placed in a ...

Share A 7-year-old boy from London almost had himself a real life Harrier Jet after clicking 'Buy it Now' on an eBay listing. The British-built jet capable of vertical take-offs was restored and being sold by Jet Art Aviation not as an auction, but as an instant purchase for £69,999 (around $113,000). Thankfully, the boy's father quickly caught the error and called the sellers to apologize ...

Share A Russian inventor may have found an easy and awesome solution for stranded sufferers of the winter, snowbound blues. According to ITN News, Sergei Khvalin has assembled an incredible propeller-powered backpack, incorporating various lawnmower and paraglider components. Coupled with skis, Khvalin can bomb across frozen terrain at speeds of up to 25 mph. Amateur inventors frequently ...

Well, 'Grand Theft Auto,' you've done it again. According to a Continental Tyre study, enthusiasts of driving games "take more risks than non-gaming drivers" and more frequently engage in dangerous street maneuvers. The statistics (culled from 1,000 gamers and 1,000 non-gamers) indicate that driving gamers crash, hit parked vehicles, sideswipe other cars, violate one-way streets and run red lights ...

Mark Riccobono, who has been legally blind since the age of 5, showed off some of the Ford Escape's new features at the Daytona International Speedway on Saturday... by driving one. As part of the activities scheduled before the Rolex 24, Riccobono, who is also the executive director of the National Federation of the Blind's Jernigan Institute, piloted the hybrid SUV around the famed racetrack ...

To help parents monitor their young drivers, American Family Insurance is offering its customers the option to have a small video camera installed in their childrens' vehicles, free of charge. According to The Kansas City Star, the camera, which is mounted on the rearview mirror, records views of the person behind the wheel, and of the road ahead. If a driver makes an irregular move -- like ...

Santa Monica Place, a shopping mall in the sixth circle of hell Los Angeles, has installed America's first car-finding camera system in its parking lot. Mall-goers can swing by Park Assist kiosks placed around the shopping center, and search for their car by license plate number. High-resolution cameras then scan the parking garage, and use image-recognition technology to read plates. Once a car ...

An elderly British couple recently got lost while driving around Germany, so they decided to consult their vehicle's GPS navigation system. As it turns out, the device was totally faulty, but the couple didn't realize it until they had already crashed into a 19th century German church -- because, apparently, the GPS system told them to. The church suffered about $37,000 in damage, but the ...

Parrot's Asteroid -- an Android-powered, in-dash computer -- drew rave reviews from CES attendees earlier this month. Pioneer apparently hopes to produce a similarly impressive Android vehicular device, but this "cyclocomputer" is specifically designed for handlebars, not dashboards. Pioneer's "graphically enhanced" bike computer will feature wireless sensors that monitor cadence, power, ...

Share The U.S. Air Force is developing a $211 million surveillance mega-blimp, which, if completed, could stay in the air for a week and will be seven times larger than the Goodyear Blimp. The project, dubbed 'Blue Devil,' could change the way surveillance missions are carried out in Afghanistan by serving as a floating information hub, according to Wired. The 350-foot-long blimp could ascend as ...