| Airbus imagines 'smarter skies' by 2050: reduced emissions and shorter flight times Sep 7th 2012, 09:27  Airbus has been crafting its plane of the future for some time now, and while earlier visualizations focus on see-through aircraft with shapeshifting seats, the aviation company's latest ideas have the environment -- and passengers' precious time -- in mind. Airbus just unveiled its "Smarter Skies" conceptualization of what air travel will look like in 2050, and all signs point to shorter flights and less energy consumption. For one, the aircraft manufacturer imagines an assisted takeoff, dubbed "eco-climb" mode, where smaller, lighter airplanes would depart from shorter runways and reach cruising altitude faster. Once in the air, planes could pinpoint the most direct route and travel en masse -- a la a flock of birds -- along "express skyways" to reduce emissions and arrive at their destination sooner. (No caveats there, right?) And when it comes time to land, aircraft could descend into airports with engines running in idle, allowing for reduced noise and emissions. Take a look at all five concepts in action in the video below the break. Continue reading Airbus imagines 'smarter skies' by 2050: reduced emissions and shorter flight times Filed under: Transportation Airbus imagines 'smarter skies' by 2050: reduced emissions and shorter flight times originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Sep 2012 05:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | NVIDIA announces Quadro K5000 for Mac Pro, brings 4K support, 2x performance over Quadro 4000 Sep 7th 2012, 08:00  NVIDIA's Kepler-powered Quadro K5000 GPU will be making its way to Apple's Mac Pro systems, the company announced today at IBC. The professional graphics card made its debut earlier this summer and is slated to ship beginning in October for $2,249. Timing for the Quadro K5000 for Mac isn't quite so firm, with NVIDIA simply stating that it'll ship "later this year," though pricing is expected to be in line with the previously announced flavor. The next-gen GPU is said to offer up to 2x faster performance over the Quadro 4000, while also delivering 4K display support, quad display capability through two DVI-DL and two DisplayPort 1.2 connectors, and 4 gigs of graphics memory. Furthermore, each Mac Pro will be able to support up to two separate cards, should you need the extra power. You'll find full details in the press release after the break. Continue reading NVIDIA announces Quadro K5000 for Mac Pro, brings 4K support, 2x performance over Quadro 4000 Filed under: Desktops, Gaming NVIDIA announces Quadro K5000 for Mac Pro, brings 4K support, 2x performance over Quadro 4000 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Sep 2012 04:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | |
