Airbus Future 2050

Airbus, the leading aircraft manufacturer, has big plans for transforming air travel by 2050. As you’ll see in the video below, Airbus plans to radically change passenger experience in the air by introducing a combination of features that can currently only be seen in science fiction movies. But apart from the experience, Airbus is showing its responsible side by striving to be more fuel efficient and reducing CO2 emissions even further.

Some of the alternative energy sources Airbus is exploring include biofuels, solar energy, hydrogen fuel cells and energy harvesting. Second generation biofuels, unlike fossil fuels, includes exploring options such as algae, woodchip waste, camelina, plants growing in salt water, waste produce and yeast. Once technological advancement is achieved these fuels can be used for all the planes in the world without any significant alterations.

Fuel cells transform hydrogen into electricity without emissions or noise and with only water, heat and oxygen depleted air as waste. Although it is unlikely that fuels cells will be the main power source, it will be useful in supporting energy requirements for the cabin and aircraft systems, including air conditioning. Solar energy, with its limitations, will also most likely be used to provide energy on board the aircraft once it has reached a certain altitude.

Energy harvesting, although seemingly farfetched today, will be used to harvest heat from the passenger’s body while seated and resirect that energy to power certain aircraft functions like the cabin lights. Watch the video below – I just hope I’m around to fly one of these aircrafts.

Immortals Movie 2011

Immortals is a grand and impressive 3D adventure directed by Tarsem Singh and co-produced by Gianni Nunnari of ‘300’ fame. Set in ancient Greece, Henry Cavill (The Tudors) plays a stone mason Theseus who sets out to avenge his mother’s death with a small group of followers. The power mad King Hyperion in search of the lost Bow of Epirus is played by Mickey Rourke, while Phaedra, the Sybelline Oracle is played by Freida Pinto (Rise of the Planet of the Apes).

If the trailer is anything to go by, supported of course by the cast and visionary director-producers team, the movie should be highly entertaining with some incredible art direction.

Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse has left us at the young age of 27. The Internet and media are buzzing with commentary and debate over Amy’s tumultuous life, as well as praise for the artistic genius whose songs have topped the iTunes download list after her tragic death. What has always struck us about Amy is the open honesty and truth with which she wrote her songs and the moving melodies she sung them to. And what could be a more befitting tribute to her memory than to dedicate this page to her with three songs we will always love to hear – songs that in some ways reflect our lives too. Rest in peace.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Am I glad I saw the trailer! Although I have never been a big fan of the TV series, Tim Burton’s version of the ‘Planet of The Apes’ opened my mind to the possibility of seeing an entire movie dominated by apes with humans playing a somewhat less prominent role. To tell you the truth, after having viewed the trailer for ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ I really can’t wait to see the movie in the theater on August 5, 2011. In fact I’m sort of wishing it had been made in 3D.

As you’ve probably guessed the story is about a man’s genetic engineering experiments on apes and everyone who is and is not involved get much more trouble than they bargained for when the apes develop exceptional intelligence, leading to a battle over supremacy. Starring James Franco, Freida Pinto and John Lithgow the film seems to be the perfect blend of CGI performance capture process and real life action.

Although based on fiction, there are concerns in the real world that humanization of animals, particularly apes and monkeys can lead to serious consequences. Scientists in the United States have already implanted human embryonic stem cells, capable of developing into any part of the human body, into mouse embryos. Many in the scientific community have urged caution and restraint in proceeding further with these experiments. Let’s hope they see the movie!

Health Gadgets

Both Apple’s iPhone and iPad have various applications for people concerned about their health and like to exercise in order to remain fit and healthy. From organizing tools to instructional videos, between your iPhone and iPad, you can improve your quality of life, in many cases free of cost. Keeping track of your pace, heart rate, distances, calories burnt, exercise history and route and sharing and uploading data are just a few of the great features you can obtain for a small price or absolutely free.

Here are some of the iPhone apps you should check out:
Nike+ GPS
iMapMyRUN
LogYourRun Free
Run Watch Lite

And a few iPad apps:
Yoga at Home: Videos For Beginners
Pilates
Gym Ball Workouts
Lose the Belly
Daily Arm Workout

If you like creamy, rich cheese and are looking for a healthier alternative, goat cheese is your answer. Compared to cream cheese made from cow’s milk, cheese made from goat’s milk contains nearly forty percent less fat, thirty percent less cholesterol, twenty percent less calories, fewer carbohydrates and a lot more calcium and proteins. In fact, most lactose intolerant people who can’t have cow’s milk can digest goat milk products due to their ‘naturally homogenized’ nature.

Here are some interesting recipes for you to try this summer and don’t forget to let us know how they turned out.

Goat Cheese Pakora

Ingredients

20 one inch cubes of Goat Cheese

Pakora Mix (Shan or National). If not available in your area you can find several recipes to make pakora batter on the net

½ Teaspoon blended mint leaves

4 green chilies

Olive oil for deep frying

Salt, pepper and mustard powder to taste

Directions

1. For the batter prepare the pakora mix, add mint paste, and add salt, pepper and mustard powder to taste.
2. Chop the chilies into fine pieces and coat goat cheese cubes with them.
3. Place the olive oil in a deep pan and heat on a medium flame. Dip each cube individually in the batter, coating it generously and fry in oil till golden brown.
4. Strain the cubes when removing them from pan and serve hot with your choice of chutney.

Chili Poppers with Goat Cheese

Ingredients

10 large chilies, seeded and sliced in half, lengthwise

1 cup goat cheese

3 eggs

1 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup all purpose flour

salt, pepper and mustard powder to taste

1/4 cup olive oil

Directions

1. Add salt, pepper and mustard to the breadcrumbs as per taste.
2. Beat eggs in a bowl.
3. Stuff sliced chilies with goat cheese, coat lightly with flour and egg and roll in bread crumbs.
4. Place the olive oil in a deep pan and heat on a medium flame. Place the peppers into the hot oil and fry until golden brown.
5. Serve hot with your choice of chutney or as a side dish.

Goat Cheese and Tomato Pizza

Ingredients

4 ounces goat cheese

6-ounce tomato paste (canned)

1/4-cup olive oil

1 tablespoon seasoning of choice (ready made seasonings like Italian seasonings are available at large departmental stores)

3/4-cup water

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Garlic powder to taste (1/2 teaspoon should be adequate)

6 salad tomatoes (you can substitute with 3 small tomatoes), thinly sliced

2 salad tomatoes (you can substitute with 1 small tomato), diced

2 ready made pizza crusts (Salman’s has pizza base available at large supermarkets)

Directions

1. Mix water, olive oil and tomato paste in a pan and add the diced tomatoes. Add garlic powder, pepper and seasoning to the mixture and heat over low flame for 15 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
3. Prepare pizza base as per directions. Lay the base on a greased pizza pan or any other non-stick tray and spread prepared sauce over the dough. Put the sliced tomatoes with small chunks of goat cheese over the sauce.
4. Place the pan in the oven for approximately 15 minutes or until the pizza base is golden brown.
5. Slice and serve while hot. You can cut the pizza into bite-sized squares if you want to serve for starters. Sprinkle some olive oil on the pizza before slicing.
6. Feel free to add other toppings like mushrooms, onions and herbs before you bake the pizza.

Grilled Steak and Goat Cheese Salad

Ingredients

1 ounce goat cheese

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

3 ounce beef undercut (or of your choice)

1 small Iceberg lettuce, shredded

1 carrot, peeled into thin strips

Directions

1. Preheat grilling pan over medium flame.
2. Marinate steak with enough balsamic vinegar to coat the meat evenly. Leave for 15 minutes.
3. Grill the steak on both sides as desired. Remove and let it cool for 5 minutes.
4. Add the lettuce, carrots and remaining vinegar in a suitable bowl and mix well. Place the ingredients on a plate.
5. Slice the steak into thin strips (about as thick as your finger) and place on top of the salad. Add small cubes or chunks of goat cheese and serve.

Bon Appetite! Let us know how the recipes turned out.

So what did the audiences think? According to a post on Beliefnet, the stunt received a lot of hoots and applause! See the video below.

(Sad to see PIA’s still close to the bottom)

Airline Safety Ranking

Aircraft Safety Statistics

So which MP3 Player should you use during your exercise routine? Here are three MP3 players that should cover a pretty broad spectrum of exercise types.

W-Series Walkman® MP3 Player - Wearable Music (Official Write-up)

Available on Amazon for $81.25

The W-series Walkman MP3 player boasts an industrial design that is simple and cord-free. Perfect for audiophiles who seek a second device for the gym and leisure use, the NWZ-W202 model is a showcase of Sony hardware expertise and sound engineering — all within an active headphone design. This design eliminates the inconvenience of wires and makes it easier to listen to music virtually anywhere, anytime.

In addition to the sound quality provided by its 13.5mm EX headphones, the new W-series Walkman MP3 player also includes Sony’s ZAPPIN™ function, which offers an effortless way of browsing, searching and listening to music without a display. The ZAPPIN mode, operated with a Jog Dial, helps you find tunes easily by playing popular clips of each song in your device’s music library until a favorite is selected.

Fitness fanatics or those who do anything active while listening to music are freed from headphone cords with the W-series Walkman MP3 player. With its compact, light weight body, this design fits comfortably behind-the-neck. The new player also offers a quick charge feature which allows the device to play back up to 90 minutes of music with only a three-minute charge and up to 12 hours of music with a full charge. By eliminating cords, the W-series Walkman MP3 player makes taking your music with you that much easier.

With the supplied "Content Transfer" you can easily transfer non-DRM music files by "drag and drop" from online music services such as iTunes™ to the Walkman device. It also comes with accessories, including a holder and charging stand with a USB miniB plug.

Finis SwiMP3 v.2 - Adding Music to the Water (Official Write-up)

Available on Amazon for $134.95

MP3 players have become extremely popular in the last decade. However, the pleasure of enjoying high quality mp3 files during exercise had been confined only to land sports. Determined to provide workout music for swimmers to enjoy as well, The FINIS Development Team set out to create a personal waterproof mp3 player that transmitted the best sounding music. After nearly 2 years of research and development, the first SwiMP3 prototype was created in 2004. A year later, the revolutionary SwiMP3 was released into the market and was quickly regarded by TIME Magazine as one of the top inventions for 2005.

In the spring of 2007, FINIS revamped their original SwiMP3 design and released the SwiMP3 v.2. The new player has a sleek finish, with all the controls built directly into the side panels. The memory capacity doubled and the new player was adapted to play both MP3 and WMA file types.

The SwiMP3 underwater MP3 player provides an incredible audio experience through its innovative sound transfer technology. Standard mp3 players rely on the transmission of sound through the air or water causing the swimmer to perceive only muffled noise. The SwiMP3 uses bone conduction - the direct transfer of sound vibrations from the cheek bone to the inner ear - to provide the swimmer with exceptional sound clarity. The SwiMP3 is fully waterproof and can be used with all the competitive swim strokes. Just imagine listening to hours of your own music in high-fidelity during your swim.

Product Features

Attaches easily to any swim goggle or snorkeling mask
Built in MP3 control panel
On/Off button
Next / Previous track
Volume control
Pause & Shuffle functions
8-hour rechargeable battery
60-song (256MB) memory capacity
Plays both MP3 & WMA files

Yamaha BODiBEAT - Synchronizes your Music to the Movement of your Workout (Official Write-up)

Available in the U.S. for 299.95

Introducing BODiBEAT, the first portable fitness device/MP3 player with built-in heart rate monitor that naturally synchronizes your music to the movement of your workout. Imagine having just one all-in-one workout device, automatically sensing and synchronizing the rhythm of your music to the movement of your workout.  It’s perfect for running, cross country, treadmills and walking. It’s like a high-tech personal trainer you can take with you every time you move. It motivates, tracks your workouts and measures results.

Just load songs into BODiBEAT like you would any other MP3 player – or listen to one of the pre-loaded music mixes. BODiBEAT automatically plays songs with tempos that match your movement, whether you’re running, walking or cooling down. For the ultimate motivation, you can easily program BODiBEAT to pace you on an interval workout – giving you the right tempo for the right stage.

Coldplay is giving away it’s new live album “LeftRightLeftRightLeft” for free! You can download it from the Coldplay site and all you have to do is provide an email address and your location. The album has already been downloaded 3.5 million times and is well on its way to becoming the most-owned album in the world.

In an interview published on their website, lead singer Chris explains how the idea of a free album first occurred to them:

My son Moses had a birthday party and everyone was given party bags at the end of it. That was when Phil said, "This is a good idea for a concert, as a way of saying thanks for coming." So we’ve done it and we’ve got a million CDs being slowly given out at shows, plus the download. It feels amazing. I can’t believe that we’ve been allowed to do it.

So what are you waiting for? Download the greatest birthday giveaway on the world wide web! And don’t forget to let us know what you think of the album by commenting below.