Weekend In Tech Trends

Sep 19-20

Land a SpaceX rocket yourself, invisibility cloaks, Apple’s self driving car and more in this weeks ‘Weekend In Tech Trends’.

Tech Trend 1- Try to land the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket yourself with this impossible flash game

As most of us know by now, Elon Musk likes to take on the impossible. His company SpaceX, intends to send a spaceship into space and have the rockets land safely back on a floating barge. But this has proven to be rather difficult.
To prove just how difficult this actually is, somebody decided to make a nice little web game that would allow you to take a shot at landing the rocket. The problem is, it is next to impossible to actually land the rocket. With instructions like “The objective of the game is to slow down and land on the platform. Press SPACE to change level.” and “Your thrusters use monopropellant, the main engine uses engine fuel. Letting either run out has obvious effects” it’s obvious that it could be difficult. But never would anyone expect it to be this impossible. Hop on and give it a try. Maybe you will become one of the few who have what it takes to beat this game.

Tech Trend 2- The best Invisibility Cloak yet?

There are a few things in this world that everybody wants. An invisibility cloak is one of them. Researchers at University of California, Berkeley, think they have the solution. They were able to make a small object disappear by using an ultra-thin invisibility skin cloak — just 80 nanometers thin. The cloak is made up of “nanoantennas” that reroute light away from the object, making it appear invisible. While different invisibility cloaks have been around for awhile, this is the first one that uses this technique. It’s also the first one that is scalable enough to cover larger objects. Maybe our dreams of being a wizard aren’t so far away after all. Check out the video below to see it in action.

Source: Mashable

Tech Trends 3- EA releases big news about Star Wars Battlefront Beta

The new Star Wars Battlefront is looking to be one of the most anticipated games in Star Wars history. And just in case your anticipation wasn’t high enough, EA made an announcement that will get you even more excited. The Star Wars Battlefront Beta will be opening soon. And it will be open to everyone.
It gets better. The beta isn’t going to be a simple multiplayer beta. It will feature a little bit of everything the game has to offer. Competitive players will be able to try out the Walker Assault and Drop Zone game modes. You can also have a go at the Survival Mission mode. The best part is that the Beta is expected to be released in early October. And in case you haven’t seen the actual gameplay footage from E3, you can check it out below.

Source: Engadget

More evidence of Apple self driving car

There is now further evidence that Apple could be working on an autonomous vehicle. We believe the project is being called Project Titan. And there is plenty of evidence that supports that it’s legit. Apple has poached many high ranking members of the automotive industry and there is also a van driving around the Bay Area. But the latest piece of evidence gets even better.
According to The Guardian, Apple met with the California DMV to discuss autonomous cars. The meeting took place with three key officials, two of which are cosponsors of the state’s autonomous cars project. The DMV also confirmed that the meeting that took place was to discuss autonomous vehicle regulations. But they wouldn’t say anything further. I’m not sure that there could be any stronger evidence that Apple is definitely cooking up something interesting. It’s only a matter of what.