In perhaps the biggest “oops” of the year, the driver of an SUV failed to see a stop sign, and collided with a small aircraft at the Northwest Regional Airport, near Dallas. WFAA news reports that only minor injuries were sustained by the passenger of the vehicle, as the plane’s landing gear clipped its roof. Pilot William Davis was completing his first solo flight, and his wife happened to be filming his landing when she captured the collision. For his part, Davis says he’ll never fly a plane again, after this near miss.
Apparently, a private road crosses the north end of the landing strip. The only indication to drivers that there’s potential risk of decapitation by landing gear is a faded “STOP” painted on the asphalt. Frank Laudo, driver of the SUV, says he didn’t see it. You’ll be inclined to believe him after you watch this video.
With modern photo editing techniques, it’s often difficult to tell the real from the, well, embellished.
Today’s Photo of the Day was snapped by Flickr user Neil Marek with an iPhone during an airplane descent on George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas. Its vintage feel is courtesy of Snapseed, an easy-to-use photo editing software for the iPhone, iPad and desktops, which offers much of the functionality of fancy photo programs like Adobe Photoshop, but at a fraction of the cost.
Does it have the purity of an unedited photograph taken by a fancy DSLR camera? Maybe not. But it’s still a very cool image.
Do you have any impressive mobile photos? Upload your shots, edited or unedited, to the Gadling Flickr Pool and your image could be selected as our Photo of the Day.
Road trips taken over the weekend can get us away from our normal routine and surroundings without a lot of planning or cost involved. Some people would like to get away from election season ads on television, websites, newspapers and magazines. Others are really into the process of selecting the next president of the United States and look for ways to feed their addiction. Here are some easy fixes for travelers who just can’t get enough of the election year hoopla.
Stop by any 7-11 store and cast your vote by simply buying a drink to participate in their 7-Election. A blue or red cup choice counts as your vote for either candidate and can contribute to a historically precise way of predicting the election outcome.
2004, the 7-Election predicted Bush would defeat Kerry 51 to 49 percent.
Actual vote: Bush 50.7 percent, Kerry 48.3 percent.
2008, the 7-Election Obama would defeat McCain 52 to 46
2012 election running totals are posted on the 7-11 website.
The Clinton Presidential Library and Museum in Little Rock, Arkansas, features exhibits, special events, and educational programs. Like other presidential libraries and museums, replicas of the Oval Office and the Cabinet Room are a highlight of a day-trip visit.
Permanent exhibits utilize documents, photographs, videos and interactive stations. The National Archives has information on all the presidential libraries, mostly located east of the Rocky Mountains.
The Sixth Floor Museum At Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, formerly known as the Texas School Book Depository has a permanent exhibit featuring films, photographs and artifacts that chronicle President John F. Kennedy’s life, death and legacy.
Another exhibit in Dealey Plaza, has been designated as a national landmark. The grassy knoll of Dealey Plaza is a small, sloping hill inside the plaza that became infamous following the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
The birthplace of President Grover Cleveland in Caldwell, New Jersey, has historical significance dating back to 1881 when Cleveland was running for governor of New York. Like other presidential birthplaces, the Grover Cleveland site preserves artifacts from Cleveland’s early years including his cradle and original family portraits.
Even those with no plans to travel (except out of the United States if their candidate does not win) have some help. JetBlue’s Election Protection will fly about 1,000 disappointed voters out of the country (and back) the day after the election.
“We decided to give people a chance to follow through on their claim to skip town if their candidate comes up short,” Marty St. George, senior VP of Marketing for JetBlue said in a Time report.
Still, if a road trip this weekend is in your plans, here are some tips for making it a great one.
Arab culture has an image problem. Most outsiders think they don’t have any fun. As one acquaintance informed me, “Arabs are a dour lot.”
He’d never actually hung out with any Arabs. Anyone who has can tell you that they do have a sense of fun, as this video shows. Uploader noxalicious tells us this was filmed in Cafe Layal in Houston, Texas. This guy gets so into the music that he ends up on a table shaking what he’s got for all it’s worth. I’ve seen guys dance like this at weddings in Egypt and parties in Syria, but they weren’t quite so … jiggly.
If you want some more Arabic humor, here’s a video about Saudis in Audis, sent to me by Facebook friend and British Muslim activist Shelina Zahra Janmohamed. Somehow it was funnier coming from her.
The idea of space travel has its fans. But other than NASA astronauts or those wiling to pay a hefty fee to Richard Branson for a sub-orbital flight, few of us will actually see space, the final frontier. Interstellar flight, human travel beyond our solar system, seems even more elusive. The 100-year Starship Initiative, aims to change all that and even has the backing of one former U.S president.
“This important effort helps advance the knowledge and technologies required to explore space, all while generating the necessary tools that enhance our quality of life on Earth,” said former U.S. president Bill Clinton in a statement featured in an MSNBC article.
President Clinton was talking about the 100 Year Starship initiative and its 2012 Public Symposium that kicks off this week. The Starship organization is charged with pursuing initiatives, galvanizing leadership and support, to assure that human travel beyond our solar system can be a reality within the next century.The Starship Organization was started by the U.S. Defense Departments Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), established in 1958 to maintain the technological superiority of the U.S. military. DARPA is all in on this project too, issuing a challenge to create a non-governmental organization for persistent, long-term, private-sector investment into the many disciplines needed to make long-distance space travel possible.
At this week’s symposium, scientific and cultural leaders will explore the technologies, science, social structures and strategies needed to make capabilities for human travel to another star system a reality within the next century. Along the way, it is hoped that new technologies developed to enable interstellar flight will have land-based applications as well.
Still sound a bit far-fetched? The idea of traveling to the moon might have started with H. G. Wells’ futuristic “The First Men in the Moon” published in 1901, 69 years before it happened.
Yes, the roster of guests at the 2012 Public Symposium will include some StarTrek alums but also feature some of today’s top names in research, design and academics. The four-day Symposium and Expo is being held September 13-16, 2012 in Houston, Texas. Visit Space.com this week for complete coverage of the 100YSS Public Symposium.