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Have You Seen This? Pod hits 202 mph during SpaceX Hyperloop competition
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If you've ever wondered what it would look like to speed through a tunnel at 202 mph, you're in for a treat with this video. - photo by Mary Dalrymple
Mary Dalrymple
KSL.com
Published: Sep 2, 2017, 2:49 AM
Editors Note: This video may cause seizures for those sensitive to flashing lights.

THE FUTURE For everyone who's always wanted to speed through tunnels at breakneck speeds, Elon Musk wants to make your dream a reality. But for now, even though you probably can't experience what it feels like for yourself, you can get a pretty good view of what it would look like by watching this video.

The video comes from the winning team at the second SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition, held Aug. 25-27 in Hawthorne, California. The competition has one focus, maximum speed, and the WARR Hyperloop Team beat out everyone else when their pod reached a speed of 202 mph, the fastest speed ever achieved by a Hyperloop pod.

The WARR team is comprised of 30 students from the Technical University of Munich, and after winning the "Fastest Pod" category six months ago in the first Hyperloop competition, they went to work designing a lighter version to go up against 24 competitors at the second competition.

The video of their winning run is remarkable. It's only 26 seconds long, and in that time, the pod speeds up to more than triple the speed humans are used to going in cars, and it still manages to stop pretty abruptly.

If you're wondering how that last part is possible, so was one Twitter user who asked Elon Musk himself to use 140 characters or less to explain how the pod stops.

Here's Musk's response.

In a more detailed explanation from the WARR team, we learn that the pod continued to accelerate for three-quarters of the tube length before the brakes kicked in to stop the pod in around 3 seconds.

OK, that's amazing and the future is definitely going to be an exciting and fast place if Musk gets his way.
Its toxic: New study says blue light from tech devices can speed up blindness
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A new study from the University of Toledo found that blue light from digital devices can transform molecules in your eyes retina into cell killers. - photo by Herb Scribner
Herb Scribner
Deseret News
Published: Aug 13, 2018, 1:39 PM
It turns out checking Twitter or Facebook before bed is bad for your health.

A new study from the University of Toledo found that blue light from digital devices can transform molecules in your eyes retina into cell killers.

That process can lead to age-related macular degeneration, which is a leading cause of blindness in the United States, according to the researchs extract.

Blue light is a common issue for many modern Americans. Blue light is emitted from screens, most notably at night, causing sleep loss, eye strain and a number of other issues.

Dr. Ajith Karunarathne, assistant professor in the UT Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, said our constant exposure to blue light cant be blocked by the lens or cornea.

"It's no secret that blue light harms our vision by damaging the eye's retina. Our experiments explain how this happens, and we hope this leads to therapies that slow macular degeneration, such as a new kind of eye drop, he said.

Macular degeneration is an incurable eye disease that often affects those in their 50s or 60s. It occurs after the death of photoreceptor cells in the retina. Those cells need retinal to sense light and help signal the brain.

The research team found blue light exposure created poisonous chemical molecules that killed photoreceptor cells

"It's toxic. If you shine blue light on retinal, the retinal kills photoreceptor cells as the signaling molecule on the membrane dissolves," said Kasun Ratnayake, a Ph.D. student researcher working in Karunarathne's cellular photo chemistry group. "Photoreceptor cells do not regenerate in the eye. When they're dead, they're dead for good."

However, the researchers found a molecule called alpha-tocopherol, which comes from Vitamin E, can help prevent cell death, according to Futurism.

The researchers plan to review how light from TVs, cellphones and tablet screens affect the eyes as well.

"If you look at the amount of light coming out of your cellphone, it's not great but it seems tolerable," said Dr. John Payton, visiting assistant professor in the UT Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. "Some cellphone companies are adding blue-light filters to the screens, and I think that is a good idea."

Indeed, Apple released a Night Shift mode two years ago to help quell blue lights strain on the eyes, according to The Verge. The screen will dim into a warmer, orange light that will cause less stress on the eyes.