melting
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Antarctica is hotter than it's ever been
Temperatures in Antarctica have reached a record high. According to Argentinian research station thermometer, the temperature climbed to 18.3 degrees Celsius, or 64.9 degrees Fahrenheit. That beats Antarctica's previous record of 63.5 degrees, measured in March 2015, by nearly 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit.
Climate change could explain Mars' imposing topography
Mars has lots of water, but future astronauts won't exactly be able to scoop it into bottles -- it's generally trapped in ice deposits below the surface. Scientists from Penn State think climate change lasting millions of years once warmed it enough to let the water flow free on the surface, however. That might have created large lakes in Gale Crater (above) and etched out channels and other water-based features on the Red Planet.
Sony to recall 1.6 million Bravia TVs due to melting components (update: not a full recall)
A vast number of Bravia LCD TVs dating from 2007 and 2008 will be recalled after components in some Japanese sets went into meltdown and started smoking. So far only eleven incidents have been reported and it looks like no one has been hurt or experienced any wider damage, but Sony says it wants to take back 1.6 million TVs that were sold in the US, Europe, Japan and elsewhere. No word on exactly which models are affected, but we're expecting further details from Sony imminently. Update: Looks like this might not be a full recall after all. We can't access Sony's support site right now, but the BBC reports that UK owners of the following models can summon an engineer to inspect their set if they're worried: KDL-40D3400, KDL-40D3500, KDL-40D3550, KDL-40D3660, KDL-40V3000, KDL-40W3000, KDL-40X3000, KDL-40X3500. Update 2: Check after the break for US recall information.
Melting silicon 'in reverse' can help purify it, result in cheaper electronics
Just our favorite combination of news: a mind-bending innovation that can have a very practical impact on our daily tech consumption. MIT scientists have found that silicon -- when combined in the right dosage with other metals -- can actually be made to melt by reducing its temperature. Typically, you'd require 1,414 degrees of Celsius heat to liquidize solid silicon, but the intermixed variant discussed here need only reach 900 degrees before its slow cooling process starts turning it gooey. The great advantage to this discovery is that because the impurities tend to separate off into the liquid part, there's now a practicable way to filter them out, meaning that things like solar cells won't require the same high grade of silicon purity for their construction -- which in turn might lead to us being able to afford them one day. Of course, that's getting way too far ahead of ourselves, as the research is still ongoing, but good news is good news no matter the timescale.
This is your iPod on drugs, any questions?
If this is what Russian artists Aristarkh Chernyshev & Alexei Shulgin see when they look at their iPods every day, I would suggest a medication adjustment at the earliest opportunity. The sculpture version of a giant, warped iPod is fully functional, although you'd have to be relatively immune to eyestrain and vertigo if you wanted to use it on a regular basis.Do you have a favorite iPod or Mac-themed work of art? Drop a link in the comments or add the 'tuaw' tag to a Flickr photo and we'll check it out.Thanks Aaron![via MAKEblog]
German MacBook melts during movie screening
We've seen MacBooks in many different states of distress during their brief existence -- burned, cracked, bulging, whining, and discolored, to name a few -- but a German member of MacUser has just posted pics of what may be the first unit that we've ever witnessed to actually begin melting from the exhaust heat. Apparently this unlucky movie buff was running down the AFI's Top 100 Movies of All Time, and had just gotten absorbed in the 2000 Wayans brother tour de force 'Scary Movie' when the hot air from those notorious vents started to warp and deform the LCD's plastic bezel. Thankfully all's well that ends well as Apple has agreed to replace our hero's notebook with one of the non-melty variety, though with MacBooks having been clocked at running north of 200 degrees Fahrenheit, this may not be the last Dalí-esque laptop we see. Check out another angle after the break... [Via Gadget Lab]
Too much XP may melt your brain and power cord
Ever have one of those Tim (The Tool Man) Taylor "More Power!" moments? Ryan Tomayko did last week, while using two instances of Parallels Desktop on his MacBook to do site testing against Internet Explorer. After about ten minutes of running two virtual machines, Ryan detected the unmistakable odor of burning plastic. He later determined that about 1/2 inch of his power cord had melted (a symptom noted by some very ticked-off Canadian Apple Store customers), which led him to reconfigure Parallels for lean running to lower his CPU load and hence his power consumption.Now, a good power supply should never melt -- ever! -- and you can't really blame IE for this one, as it's likely any CPU-hungry app would have triggered the same flaw. Still, Ryan is justifiably annoyed about the whole thing. Check out his post, and also his explanation of REST to his wife: downright Hofstadterian.[via digg]
