travel

Brown was passionate about his driverless car which was speeding into truck trailer and killed its master

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Washington: Joshua Brown, 40, a former Navy SEAL is the first person to die at the wheel of his confidently-trusted self-driving car. His computer-guided Tesla Model S hit a tractor trailer on a freeway in Williston, Florida, in May.

And here's what the Model S owner's manual has to say about Autopilot: "...Always drive attentively and be prepared to take immediate action." (Note: How fast can you switch yourself from relax mode into controlling the wheel to avoid a fatal accident?)

"When machines unsure to make decisions

Where's the lane? Self-driving cars confused by shabby U.S. roadways

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Photo courtesy heavy.com, Reuters / Mario Anzuoni, and Ben Cawthra / Rex / Shutterstock

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The world’s largest Viking ship, the Norwegian Draken Harald Hårfagre, will be docking at Mystic Seaport, Connecticut, beginning October 2, 2016
"It has been a tremendous adventure! A challenge extraordinaire, to explore the world with the largest Viking ship built and sailed in modern times. Im proud of our crew and all the challenges we have overcome to reach the final stop on this journey."
– Captain Björn Ahlander

October 2, Draken Harald Hårfagre, the world’s largest viking ship built in modern times, will sail into Mystic Seaport, Connecticut, and it is the final destination for Expedition America 2016.  read more »

Churchgate Railway Station in Mumbai, India
Photograph by Randy Olson

Snowboarding in the Himalaya, Nepal

Ice Climbing at Dusk in Ouray Ice Park, Colorado

Ice Climbing in Zirknitzgrotte, Austria

Snowboarding the Pemberton Ice Cap, British Columbia

Backcountry Skiing Mount Superior, Wasatch, Utah

Ice Climbing in Kootenay National Park, Canada

Snowboarding Mount Ruapehu, New Zealand

Skiing Under the Northern Lights in Norway

Skiing the Pemberton Ice Cap, British Columbia

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Car Hacking: What Every Connected Driver Needs to Know - many new cars are equipped with wireless technology that can make a driver's time on the road more stress-free and entertaining, but the technology can also bring a dark side. Two hackers were able to take control of a connected Jeep Cherokee from their living room as a Wired reporter, who agreed to be their test case, drove the SUV down the highway at 70 mph, according to the article.

Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek, the two hacking experts behind the stunt, were able to access the SUV's Internet connected computer system and then rewrite the firmware to plant the malicious code allowing them to commandeer the vehicle, including everything from the air conditioning and music to the Jeep's steering, brakes and transmission, according to Wired.

TheGuardian - The problem with self-driving cars: who controls the code? Every locked device can be easily jailbroken
Should autonomous vehicles be programmed to choose who they kill when they crash? And who gets access to the code that determines those decisions? The Trolley Problem is an ethical brainteaser that’s been entertaining philosophers since it was posed by Philippa Foot in 1967: a runaway train will slaughter five innocents tied to its track unless you pull a lever to switch it to a siding on which one man, also innocent and unawares, is standing. Pull the lever, you save the five, but kill the one: what is the ethical course of action?  read more »

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Sweden '[we] cannot cope' - closes borders to those without passports or ID cards: Sweden, with a population of 9.8 million, took 160,000 asylum seekers in 2015, a higher number of refugees per capita than any other country in the European Union. In September, prime minister Stefan Lofven said: 'My Europe takes in people fleeing from war', but by last month he admitted ' [we] cannot cope' - closing the borders to those without passports or ID cards.

Thousands of commuters traveling across the five-mile road and rail bridge and accompanying tunnel between the Danish capital Copenhagen and Malmo in Sweden were yesterday told to expect their journeys to take half an hour longer than the usual 40 minutes.

The decision to close the borders to those without passports or ID cards marks a massive turnaround for the Swedish government, which had been the most welcoming to migrants but changed course after more than 160,000 applied for asylum last year – the highest number per capita in Europe.  read more »

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The 400-year-old church was originally lost to the waters in 1966 when it was flooded; now emerging from the depths again due to 2015 drought (causing the Mexican reservoir to decrease by 82 feet) as it did in 2002 when water dropped so low.

2015 - The watershed of the Grijalva river has been hit by a drought this year, causing the water level in the Nezahualcoyotl reservoir to decrease by 82 feet. The remains of a 400-year-old church have emerged from the receding waters of a river in the southern Mexico state of Chiapas.

Mid-16th century - The church was built by a group of monks led by Friar Bartolome de la Casas, who arrived in the region that was inhabited by the Zoque people in the mid-16th century in the Quechula locality.

1966 - It was originally lost to the waters of the Nezahualcoyotl reservoir in 1966 when it flooded. With the walls rising to about 30 feet, the stunning structure is 183 feet long and 42 feet wide. The bell tower reaches 48 feet above the ground of the church. Architect Carlos Navarete, who worked with Mexican authorities on a report about the structure, said: 'The church was abandoned due to the big plagues of 1773-1776.'  read more »